What Happens in High School
by EchidnaGirl
Summary: The gang goes to high school, reunites with some old friends, makes some new ones... But, will the group of friends be able to stand together against the high school drama? Later SonAmy KnuxRouge Espave Silvaze and assorted romances
1. The Arrival

Alright, for now, my other story, Unforgivable, is lying dormant. I do plan on continuing it, and I shall as soon as I can figure out exactly what to do with it. I have a direction, but, for the moment, it is still something to work on.

Also, at the moment, my inbox is doing odd things, and, apparently, I haven't been receiving all messages. So, I apologize if you've sent me a message that I never replied to.

Now, for this story. If you like the idea, I credit it to the boredom of sitting in Study Hall for an hour and a half every other day all school year. If you don't like it... I BLAME it on the boredom of sitting in Study Hall for an hour and a half every other day all school year. ;P

No, but seriously... I'm just glad to be able to write something for the first time in a few months.

My Story Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any of the canon Sonic characters used and/or mentioned in this story (including but not limited to Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Silver, Blaze, Wave, Jet, Cream, Vector, Charmy, and Dr. Eggman). Nor do I own the inspiration from some of the other characters taken from other games/movies (such as Ganondorf Dragmire who belongs to the Zelda franchise, and Queen Grimhilde who belongs to Disney). Nor, again, do I own any objects or names that are associated with the Sonic universe, any other game or movie or tv show's universe, or any business/corporation names. In addition, the celebrity personas illustrated in the story mean no harm and are not meant to be offensive in any way.

Yes, that is probably unnecessarily long, but I take few chances. Now, what I DO own... All fancharacters and teachers used in this story are the product of my own imagination and belong entirely to me, save for a few who belong to Symphony-of-the-Soul.

**What Happens In High School**

**1. The Arrival**

"Metropolis Upper Class Academy: Where the Gifted Thrive."

Tails lowered his map, looking from the big sign to the paper in Amy's hand. He read the school name aloud from the paper and nodded at the sign in affirmation. "Yep, this is it."

Sonic let out a low whistle, staring up at the collection of pristine, white marble buildings that were scattered across a campus that seemed to stretch on for miles. "You sure, buddy?"

"Positive..." Tails also stared out at the buildings, trying to separate the towers into dormitories and class buildings. "You guys sure are lucky," the fox said, fantasizing about all the learning that would happen behind those pearly walls.

Sonic put a reassuring hand on the small fox's shoulder, "Don't worry, buddy. We'll come visit whenever we get breaks. And, besides, if you skip grades as fast as I know you will, you'll be here with us next year."

Knuckles was almost completely blinded by the countless bags of luggage that had been loaded on top of him, and, as he would rather have been on Angel Island guarding his emerald, he was extremely irritated. "Can we just go, now?"

"Calm down, Knuckie. Why so impatient?" Rouge flashed a smile at the echidna, only making him angrier.

"Maybe because I'm the ONLY ONE carrying anything!" He roared, turning his head around to glare at the empty-handed Sonic and Rouge - and Amy, who was only carrying the paper with the school information on it, "Or EVERYTHING, for that matter!"

Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream easily ignored the echidna's shouting and began walking down the sidewalk toward the buildings. Knuckles followed them, doing his best not to trip over some of the loose baggage, and Rouge walked with him, hoping to be the first to witness him tripping over the same loose baggage.

Cream was the first to spot the sign along the sidewalk that read "First-Years This Way" and pointed them with an arrow toward one of the larger buildings. She skipped along, ahead of them, happily chiming, "I just know you will have so much fun this year, Amy! My cousin is going to come here this year, too! She says that the school is really great!"

Amy smiled at the little rabbit before glancing over at Sonic. "I'm excited, too, Cream! It's going to be great!"

Sonic nodded then laughed, "Well, except for the fact that I'll be living within a mile of Knucklehead all year long." Amy and Cream giggled.

A large purple suitcase flew through the air, just barely missing Sonic's head as Knuckles bellowed, "You can carry_ your own _damn luggage then, Sonic!"

Rouge gave Knuckles a dirty look, running after the suitcase and yelling back at the echidna, "You idiot! Then throw _**his **_suitcase - not mine!"

As the group bickered amongst themselves, other students were arriving. Two guys came up behind the group and stopped when they didn't want to walk through the argument. Both of the guys were well-built, and one of them was, like Knuckles, packed with half a ton of luggage. Also, like Knuckles, very little of his face could be seen, and the only landmark trait that could be taken from his hidden appearance was pitch-black fur.

Beside the black-furred luggage-carrier was an orange creature that greatly resembled an echidna in form. His bright orange dreadlocks stopped at his shoulders, and his muzzle was a perfect, light tan.

Amy and Tails noticed the newcomers and tried to drag Sonic and Rouge to the front of the group in hopes that they would stop trying to fight with Knuckles. Neither Amy nor Tails could gain any ground - hopeless against their taller, angrier friends. However, their frazzled attempts quickly drew a bright laugh from the orange echidna standing behind them. Sonic and Rouge ceased their attempts to strangle Knuckles at the sound of laughter, and Sonic, trying to be friendly, acted as though the little scuffle had never even happened, spinning around and greeting the newcomers, "Hey, there!"

The orange one smiled and answered, "Hello. You all must be new, as well."

Amy waited for Sonic to answer but when he didn't, she took charge, "Yeah, we are. Are you two?"

"Well, I am, but Dread isn't." The orange echidna nodded his head toward his companion, then extended a hand toward Amy in greeting. "I'm Walker."

Amy shook his hand, nodding, and she pointed at each of the people in her own group. "Nice to meet you, Walker. This is Tails, and that's Cream. They're just here to see us off."

Walker smiled cheerfully at the two. "Nice to meet you."

"And this is Rouge. She can be a bit of a handful, but she's pretty nice once you get to know her..."

Rouge rolled her eyes. Walker nodded.

"That's Knuckles carrying the bags... And Sonic's the blue one." She took a breath before introducing herself, "And, I'm Amy Rose. But, just call me Amy."

"Nice to meet you, Amy."

The pink hedgehog smiled but then glanced at Sonic, who was just staring at Walker as if dumbfounded. Unsure of what to do, she politely stepped off the sidewalk, apologizing, "Sorry, we're in your way. You two can go on ahead."

"Thanks," Walker said, and he and his companion quickly walked through the group, heading toward a large building.

When they had passed, Amy and the others stepped back onto the path and started following them toward the building. "Well, they seemed nice," Amy said, trying to start a conversation, hoping that the previous fight would not break out again. She then noticed Sonic still looking dumbfounded. "What is it, Sonic?"

"Didn't you see what he was wearing?"

"I didn't pay particular attention, no..."

Rouge laughed, "How could you not notice? His shirt was metallic silver, and he was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants. It's barely halfway through August! It's still summer! You know that fabric's not breathable."

Sonic nodded. "Plus, he was wearing more eyeliner than _Rouge_!"

Rouge continued, "Exactl-wait." She spun around to leer at Sonic. "Was that a slam on my makeup?"

The blue hedgehog sweatdropped, looking down at the sidewalk nervously. "Uh...No! I said he was wearing _more_, didn't I?" The bat continued to watch Sonic dangerously.

"Would you two be quiet? They're not that far ahead; they can probably hear you!" Amy sighed as the group approached the doors to the building, "We're not here to criticize the way people dress, okay? At least he was nice." Cream smiled in agreement with Amy.

Rouge shrugged. "Well, I did kinda figure that the place would be crawling with stuck-up jerks, so I guess we're in the clear, now."

Tails opened the door to let the others in, but Knuckles stopped before going through the door. He tried to look around the bags to give Tails a demeaning, you're-an-idiot look, but when that failed, he just growled, "How the hell do you think I'm going to fit through that door with all this junk?"

The fox blinked then looked around, locating the other guy who had been carrying a bunch of luggage. Tails pointed toward the building that the other guy was walking to and said, "I think you drop that off over there."

"Over where?" Knuckles tried to look to where Tails was pointing, but it was useless: he could barely see anything beyond the pile of luggage in his arms. He turned back around to ask Tails again, but the fox was gone, and the door was closed. Grumbling something along the lines of, "Chaos, I hate this place already," and, "Never again," and, "Next time they're carrying their own damn luggage," the red echidna set off in the general direction he assumed he was supposed to go.

Inside the large building that the others had entered, Amy, Sonic, and Rouge were looking for a place to sit. They were standing at the back of a huge white room that appeared to be the school cafeteria. Long white tables took up one half of the room while small, round white tables took up the other half. About fifty others were already seated in the cafeteria, talking quietly amongst themselves. Amy felt awkward standing at the back of the room while everyone else was sitting, so she scanned the tables for a familiar face. Walker had taken a seat at an empty round table that only had three chairs, so she could see that the group wouldn't fit there. But, as she scanned the rest of her colorful classmates, she finally did spot two familiar faces. A purple chameleon and a black hedgehog were sitting together - albeit sitting opposite of each other and not even sparing one another a glance - at one of the round tables.

Amy smiled, grabbing Sonic by the arm and dragging him to the table. Rouge, Tails, and Cream followed. Amy made her way over to the table and waved energetically, drawing the attention of Shadow and Espio. "Hi, guys!"

Shadow greeted her in the most warm, welcoming way that he was capable of: "Hmph."

And, Espio said simply, "Hello," before returning to staring at the surface of the table in silence.

Sonic grinned, taking the seat immediately next to Shadow. "Hey, Shads! Long time no see!" Upon receiving no reply, the blue hedgehog only grinned more. "So," he raised an imaginary glass in a toast, "here's hoping we get roomed together - whaddaya say?"

The black hedgehog looked up with dark red eyes, stating flatly, "I would rather cut myself."

"Well, ya probably already do that a bit, don't ya, Shadsy? No worries, though! When we're roomies, I'll help you kick that nasty habit."

"Then I will cut you instead."

Cream hugged Amy before taking a step back and saying in an almost motherly tone, "Call at least once a week and come visit whenever you can, okay?"

Amy smiled at her best friend, answering, "All the time, Cream. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Amy. Have fun, okay?" The little rabbit smiled sweetly at Amy and then nodded toward everyone else. "Have fun, everyone!"

Tails smiled at them all, as well. "Bye, guys. See you later." He waved, taking one last look at his own best friend, Sonic, before turning and walking with Cream back outside.

Amy sighed, sinking in to the chair beside Sonic. She was full of mixed emotions. Glad to have the chance to go to a real high school, sad to be without her best friend... Unsure of just what school was going to be like, or if she was going to make any friends...

The huge clock that was built into the west wall of the building struck three o' clock with three successive tones, and, right on time, a large creature walked through the main doors of the room, marching straight down the center, to the front. He was a peculiar-looking creature, a dark, forest-green boar. His fur was weathered - black in places as if burnt from fire. His face was hardened from scars, and tufts of fiery orange hair fell from his head. He was dressed in black robes littered with gold adornments, and a gold headpiece was fitted onto his head.

The boar stopped only when he was at the very head of the room, the center of attention. And, he spoke with a low, ominous yet elegant tone: "Good afternoon, students..." Unsure of how to greet the giant boar-man, the room remained silent. "During your stay at the Metropolis Upper Class Academy, I will be your principal, your advisor, your keeper, and your disciplinary decider. You will know me as Lord Dragmire, Sir Dragmire, or King Dragmire - nothing less..."

The room's silence was broken when one of the back doors opened, and a tall, black-furred porcupine strutted into the room. Immediately, all stares, including the stare of Lord Dragmire, went to the back, watching the porcupine as if he were some sort of criminal for interrupting the speech.

The porcupine was dressed in almost perfect, midnight tones, wearing dark, loose-fitting jeans, and a plain, black t-shirt. His quills were all long enough to reach his waist, but only two in the front were left to do so. The rest of the quills were styled straight upward, creating a sort of spiked look, and each quill was tipped with either green or fuchsia dye. The porcupine looked up at the principal, nodding in greeting, and he said in a calm voice, as if he either didn't know or didn't care that he was causing such a scene, "Sorry to interrupt, Sir King Dragmire." Several of the students' eyes darted between the porcupine and the principal. "But, your luggage-collectors _royally _suck this year. A few other guys are coming behind me. I'd check in on that if I were you."

Amy and Rouge exchanged a glance, and an eruption of hushed whispers and pointing at the porcupine commenced, the loudest of which were, "The nerve!," "Who does that guy think he is?," and, from a table girls that he walked by, the loudest comment was only silence, followed by a fit of giggles. The porcupine didn't seem to notice, sweeping through the tables gracefully and taking a seat by the orange echidna, Walker, at an otherwise empty table.

Lord Dragmire raised a hand, silencing the whispers, and he nodded in the porcupine's direction, apparently not impressed, surprised, or annoyed in any way. "Thank you, Mr. Lox. I will have my staff look into that right away." The porcupine just nodded, leaning back in his chair.

Amy looked shocked, speaking in a low voice over the table, "The principal knows him!"

Espio answered quietly, "This is a school for the gifted... The student body is made up of the famous, the rich, and the exceptionally gifted... Perhaps he is famous."

Sonic agreed with the chameleon, "Yeah. Like, if I were to get up and act out, the principal'd probably be all, 'Thank you, Mr. Sonic.' It's no big deal, Ames."

The pink hedgehog sighed, "Well, I've never heard of him."

Across the table, Rouge's ears were twitching violently from the nearby conversations that were going on. She shook her head, confirming Amy's thoughts, "Neither has anyone else, apparently." The bat's eyes fluttered over to the distant table where the porcupine was lounging. "He looks too old for high school... Especially freshman year."

"So do you, Rouge." Sonic laughed, "You're what? Thirty, now?"

The bat's glare turned poisonous. "I'm eighteen."

"Sure. You're only as old as you feel."

Rouge was just about to jump over the table and strangle the blue hedgehog when, luckily for Sonic, the principal's speech continued, "Now, for all of you who failed to read the manual, the meeting for disciplinary action will be held tomorrow night at six sharp. If you do not wish to attend the meeting, then my suggestion would be to read the first twenty pages of your agenda very carefully, or risk expulsion. Starting tomorrow, my office is open from five to five." The boar paused, looking tired of talking, and he concluded his short speech quickly, "Now, if you wait a few moments, Professor Grimhilde will post dorm assignments. Your luggage will be delivered to your rooms by five o' clock this afternoon, and dinner is at six. I look forward to a great year." As soon as the old, battle-scarred boar was finished talking, there was automatic applause from many of the new students who didn't know what else to do. Sonic looked around, shrugged, and started clapping, as well; after a moment, Amy joined him. Lord Dragmire made his formal exit, and Sonic turned back to the others.

The blue hedgehog smiled confidently. "So, room assignments. This'll be fun."

Espio, looking puzzled, finally decided to voice the question that had been bothering him, "How exactly are roommates chosen?"

Amy tilted her head, staring over the table at the purple lizard. "We were sent that whole questionnaire chart about likes and dislikes and schedules and habits and stuff..." She noticed Espio's blank face and made her conclusion, "You didn't answer that?"

Rouge smiled, shaking her head. "Well, this should be interesting, then. Guess you'll be put with all the other delinquents who don't fill out their forms..." A worried look crossed Espio's face, as he mentally pictured himself alone in a room of adult Charmys... Staying up all night and destroying their belongings, his belongings, the entire room, the campus, burning his homework, playing violent video games into the early morning hours... He shuddered and bowed his head, praying desperately for a different fate.

The back door of the room opened again as a few other late arrivals entered, including Knuckles, who stormed over to the table, still in a sour mood. Much to his disappointment, the only seat available was by Rouge, but he took it, not sparing the bat a glance.

Sonic raised his hand in greeting to the red echidna. "See ya finally decided to join us, huh, Knux?"

Knuckles snarled, glaring daggers. "_Not_._ Right_. _Now_. _Sonic_."

The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Looks like someone's in a bad mood."

Before Knuckles could respond, Rouge spoke, staring over Sonic's head, "Looks like someone else is just about to be." Sonic and Amy turned around to see what Rouge was looking at, and they both froze.

Sonic groaned, "Oh, come on! What are _they_ here for?"

Espio looked up at the two birds standing across the cafeteria in the doorway, and he tilted his head, trying to be helpful, "Talent, perhaps?" Of course, that comment only earned him the glares of Sonic, Amy, and Rouge. "...That was a rhetorical question... Of course..." And, he returned to his silent prayers.

Shadow stood up, taking a step toward the green hawk and purple swallow, deciding aloud, "Well, any enemy of Faker's is a friend of mine." And, the black hedgehog walked over to Jet and Wave to introduce himself.

Amy and Rouge both crossed their arms, taking turns shooting glares in the purple swallow's general direction. Amy was the first to say, "Ooh, I can't _stand_ her!"

And, Rouge was quick to reply, "Me neither. She's such a know-it-all!"

"And she's just flat-out rude!"

"She thinks she's better than everyone else!"

"She's mean to everyone!"

"She gets everything she wants!"

The girls' hate-fest was interrupted, though, when Knuckles noticed a bunch of the students crowding around a wall, and he said, "Guys, I think they just put the rooms up..."

Sonic put a hand to his heart, half-falling out of his chair dramatically. "Knuckles_ thinks_?" The hedgehog then actually turned his head and noticed the crowd as well. "Hm, I think Knuckles might be right..."

Amy and Rouge exchanged a glance, and then both broke into a mimicry of Sonic, nearly falling out of their own chairs, chorusing, "Sonic _thinks_?"

The blue hedgehog just shook his head, standing up and running full-speed over to the crowd. It was impossible to see the list from the back of the crowd, so he had to duck under some people and put his elbows to good use, but, finally, he managed to spot his name, and he returned to the table victoriously.

Rouge raised an eyebrow, expecting him to say something. "So...?"

"Room C1!" Sonic gave her a thumbs-up, as if the room number was something special.

Knuckles frowned. "What about the rest of us?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "You guys got feet. Use 'em."

Amy sighed, standing up reluctantly, but, upon seeing the huge crowd, she changed her mind, turning back to the table. "So, who are your roommates, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog shrugged again. "The list was grouped by name, not rooms."

Their attention was diverted to another sound, then. From across the cafeteria, they heard a familiar, snotty voice as Jet broke from the crowd at the wall and returned to Wave and Shadow. "God, these people are crazy!"

Amy, Rouge, and Sonic all turned around to watch them and saw Wave say something to Jet, but her voice wasn't loud enough to be heard from across the room. In answer, Jet again opened his beak and shouted, "I dunno! Room 'C1', whatever the heck that means!"

Amy and Rouge both instantly looked at Sonic, who was quickly paling. The blue hedgehog moaned into his hands, "Oh, heck, no..." He looked up at Amy hopefully. "...He said D1, right?"

Rouge walked over to the cool blue hero, patting him on the back. "Good luck, honey." And, she started toward the crowd to fetch her own room number.

Sonic turned to Knuckles for help, "Knuckles, man, you gotta get roomed with me, right? I mean, we share all sorts of stuff in common! Emerald-searching and... saving the world... and... Eggman-fighting... and... and emerald-searching..."

"Sonic, there's no way in Hell we're gonna be roomies. We have nothing in common. I don't race, I'm not competitive, I don't find humor in any of your stupid jokes, I'm not fast... You spend the day drinking energy drinks and eating chili dogs; I can't stand that nasty, greasy junk. And, I can't stand it when people have too much sugar."

Espio chimed in on that comment as if to defend Knuckles' point of view, "Sugar does cause tooth decay and unnecessary hyperactivity."

Sonic sulked in his chair. "Well, at least I could _**make fun **_of you guys. Instead, I'll just be competing constantly for _the tv _and _the remote _and_ the good lamp _and_ the hair dryer _and _the bathroom _and..."

Knuckles stood up to go get his room assignment, carelessly shrugging at Sonic. "Well, that's what you get for being so competitive: competition." Espio stood up and followed Knuckles over to the wall which by then had a much smaller crowd around it.

About five minutes passed before every one of the group members located his or her respective room number and met back at the table to compare. And, much to their - though especially Sonic's - dismay, none of their room numbers matched up.

"I can't believe this," the blue hedgehog moped. "Weeks of looking forward to this and suddenly Mr. 'I'm-the-fastest-thing-alive' - even though he's so not - shows up and ruins the whole year!"

Knuckles frowned, ignoring the hedgehog's whining, and asked hesitantly, "What do the numbers and letters mean?"

Rouge was sitting back in her chair, arms crossed, with a nasty scowl on her face. Amy looked over at her, concerned. "What's wrong, Rouge?"

Avoiding the pink hedgehog's question, the bat turned her head toward Knuckles and answered simply, "The letter refers to the building number. The dormitories we saw when entering were dorms A through E. The rest of the dorms are at the other end of the campus. The number is whatever floor you're on."

Amy continued to watch Rouge with a worried gaze for several seconds, but then her attention was caught by several of the doors of the cafeteria opening as other students left. She watched them for a moment before looking at Sonic. "Where do you think they're going, Sonic?"

"I dunno. I'm guessing most of them are going to find their dorms, bring their cars around, and meet with roommates."

"Well, maybe we should do that, then!"

"You and Rouge are the only two with cars, Ames."

Amy rose from her seat, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, Sonic, if you don't want to come with one of us to move our cars, then you could always go fraternize with your new dorm family." She looked over to the place that Jet and Wave had been standing in earlier. "Looks like Jet's already gone."

Knuckles stood up, turning toward the door. "I'm going to go find my room. Anyone know where building X is?"

Rouge stood up, as well, answering, "Just walk and walk and walk until you hit the edge of campus. It's the last building you're going to see."

And, with that, Knuckles' mood turned sour again as he headed out the door. Amy shook her head, looking back at Sonic. "So, what's it gonna be? Are you helping me and Rouge move the cars or going to get to know your new best friend, Jet?"

The hedgehog sprang from his chair, shouting, "To the Batmobile!" Rouge rolled her eyes, and they waved to Espio before leaving for the parking lot.

* * *

"Building X, Building X..." Knuckles stopped in front of what appeared to be the last building on campus, not entirely sure of what to do. _Room X2... So, that's the second floor, right?_ He searched the side of the building, hoping to find a staircase, but the only thing he saw was the flat side of the building. _Do I go in, or...? _He paced back around to the front of the building, eyeing the door.

"Excuse me; are you new here?"

Knuckles whirled around at the sound of the voice to find himself facing a pale yellow bird. Her feathers were curled in an elegant design, and she was wearing a light blue sundress. Around her back, a guitar was slung. Knuckles quickly looked from her to the door, before deciding to answer, "Uh, yeah." He paused before deciding to swallow his pride for one second, and he turned back to her to ask, "Yeah, uh, I'm supposed to be in X2... How do you get there?"

She smiled. "Well, you go inside, and there's a staircase in the common room." She stepped around him, putting her hand on the door. "Come on, I'll show you." The door opened easily, and the bird walked inside. Reluctantly, Knuckles followed. The door opened into a large, circular room that was furnished with white furniture. The walls were a basic white but splattered with random patches of red, yellow, and blue paint. On the couch, a white tigress was lounging. She looked up when they came in.

The tigress glanced over Knuckles, then she turned to the bird, jumping up to give her a hug, shouting, "Tay-Tay! It's been FOREVER since I last saw you!" Knuckles watched them, feeling greatly uncomfortable. What if he was roomed with a bunch of... GIRLS?

When the two girls came out of their hug, the yellow bird turned back to Knuckles, introducing her friend, "This is Claws. She's a tiger. And one of my very best friends." The tigress waved, and Knuckles just nodded awkwardly. "And, I'm Taylor." The bird paused before saying, "Taylor the Swift."

Again, Knuckles just nodded, feeling extremely out of place. "...Alright..."

Taylor seemed slightly surprised at the echidna's lack of reaction, but she pointed to the stairs and said good-naturedly, "Your roommates will show up soon, I'm sure. But, if you're the first one, then that means you can stake your claim of the lot."

Knuckles quickly went for the stairs and was glad when he reached the top of the staircase. He was standing at the beginning of a short hallway with a door on each side it. At the end of the hallway was another pair of doors. Slowly, Knuckles walked toward the door on the right side of the hallway, opening the door. To his surprise, someone was already in the room. A dark brown buck was standing over one of the room's two beds, unloading some books out of what looked like a briefcase. The deer was dressed simply in some paint-speckled blue jeans and a striped green t-shirt. As soon as he heard the click of the door, the buck turned around, half-waving, with a paint brush in his hand, at Knuckles.

"Hi," the deer said plainly.

"...Uh, hey," Knuckles replied, staying in the doorway. _And, I'm stuck in a building way off campus with a bunch of strangers. Chaos, Tails had better be watching the Master Emerald..._

The door opened behind Knuckles then, hitting him in the back, and a quick, "Oh, I'm sorry!," followed. Knuckles spun around, ready to chew out whoever had opened the door, when he found himself face-to-face with a familiar, white-grey hedgehog.

"Silver?"

"Knuckles?" They stared at each other for a few moments in silence before Silver noticed that the person he'd hit with the door was, in fact, Knuckles. "Um, so, nice to see you - I'll be just across the hall if you need me!"

"GET BACK HERE, SILVER!" The echidna chased the hedgehog down the hall, but Silver successfully made it to his room first, slamming the door in Knuckles' face and leaning against it, hoping that Knuckles wasn't riled up enough to try to break the door down.

* * *

Sonic approached the forsaken Building C with the decision already made in his mind. He was going to pick the bed or room or however the dorms were set up - he was going to make himself the farthest away from Jet as was humanly - scratch that - HEDGEHOGLY possible. Then, all he had to do was go to bed later than Jet, get up earlier than Jet, not go back to the room whenever Jet was there, never hang out in the common room, and then the green hawk would never even know that he was sharing a dorm with Sonic the Hedgehog!

The door was unlocked, so Sonic walked in, only to find himself in the empty common room. The walls were black, and the furniture was in bright, neon colors. Sonic just glanced over the room; it wasn't too bad. Actually, it was a shame he'd have to avoid the room. He walked through the common area, entering the hallway, and he noticed a door on each side of the corridor. Even better! If the dorms were split in half, he wouldn't even have to room with Jet!

Sonic paused, taking a second to think. The door on his left was the one that he was considering entering... But Jet was an insufferable copycat, er, copybird - wait, mockingbird! - yeah, Jet was an insufferable mockingbird. So, chances were, that Jet was already in the left room! So, Sonic opened the door to the right room... Only to find two coal-colored creatures already inhabiting the room.

Sonic looked at Shadow - who was lounging on one of the two beds without a care in the world - with a dulled gaze. "You have GOT to be kidding me, Shads."

The other dark-furred creature, the porcupine who'd interrupted the principal's speech earlier, glanced up at Sonic from where he was unpacking his single, small suitcase. "You must be Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic glanced over at the porcupine, one last hope shining in his eyes. If the porcupine was a fan of his, then maybe Sonic could get him to trade rooms! The blue hedgehog flourished a smile and said, "I see I've got a fan!"

"Not really," came the porcupine's reply as he stood up, towering about a foot over the blue hedgehog.

"...Oh." Sonic paused, taken aback by the blunt statement. "Well, do you feel like doing me a little, _tiny_ favor?"

"Not really."

Sonic sweatdropped then noticed Shadow snickering silently, and the blue hedgehog crossed his arms. "Look, whatever Shadow told you is not true."

"Oh..." The porcupine raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms, as well. "So, then, you're not a blue egomaniac hedgehog with stupid hair and an annoying, headache-inducing voice?"

Sonic blinked. "Oh...kay... How about I rephrase that? Whatever Shadow told you is _probably_ not true." The porcupine continued to watch Sonic with an unamused expression. "Oh, come _on_! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! I've saved the world! Just look at me! I'm cool, right?"

"Not really."

Sonic huffed, turning to Shadow, "Why aren't YOU rooming with Jet? What happened to, 'Any enemy of Faker's is a friend of mine'?" The ebony hedgehog only continued to watch Sonic smugly, so, finally, Sonic turned back to the door. "I hope you're happy!"

"Ecstatic." Shadow closed his eyes, perfectly relaxed, as Sonic stalked out of the room.

_Stupid Shadow... Your regularly scheduled prank has just been moved forward... Oh, yeah, you'd better watch yourself... And your little roommate, too! _Reluctantly, Sonic pushed open the door to the left room... Only to find it empty.

He took a step forward, looking around. _Huh. Maybe I was worried about nothing._

And, then, the familiar, snotty voice that Sonic had been dreading piped up from behind him, "Well, well, well, if it isn't _Sonic the Hedgehog_..."

* * *

"I hadn't realized when coming in that the parking lot was that far away..." Amy sighed, getting out of her old, red station wagon and looking over at Rouge, who was getting out of her own white car, decorated with pink hearts and decals. "Don't you feel kinda bad about making Sonic get out back there?"

Rouge shook her head. "No. He was already going to be one of the last ones there. Besides, his feet were on my dashboard... I'm going to have to clean that off later..."

Amy turned her head to the side, staring at the shiny, purple hovercraft she'd parked next to. "Who do you think that car belongs to?"

Rouge shrugged. "Some roommate of mine who spends more time on cars than anything else, I'm sure."

Amy sighed, walking onto the sidewalk that lined the back of Building D. "Guess this is goodbye, Rouge."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "We'll see each other at dinner, in, like, an hour. And, then there's tomorrow. I'm sure we'll have at least _some _classes together."

"Yeah, I guess so... It just sucks that the only person I can talk to is on the other side of campus from me, and so is Sonic."

Rouge put a comforting hand on Amy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Rosie. If you really need to talk to someone while you're over there... Knuckles'll be right upstairs." Rouge laughed.

"Gee, Rouge, that really makes me feel better."

"See you in an hour!"

The pink hedgehog waved goodbye then got back into her little red car to drive down to her own building. And, Rouge walked around the side of Building D, found the door, and walked into the common room. Instantly, a short ground squirrel sprang from the couch, pouncing Rouge in a hug. The startled bat tried to push the small chipmunk off, but the tiny girl simply said in a sing-song voice, "You must be our last roommate! I'm so super stoked to finally meet you!" On the couch, two guys were sniggering at the scene. "My name is Zena! What's yours?"

Finally, Rouge succeeded in pushing the chipmunk off to answer, "Rouge the Bat. Former government agent; touch me again, and you die." The ground squirrel, Zena, just giggled and ran off down the hallway. Rouge then turned toward the two guys on the couch. "Is she high?"

"Zena? Nah, she's just always that way." The guy speaking stood up, extending his hand toward Rouge and introducing himself, "Hey, I'm Justin Beaver." He twitched instinctively in an effort to keep his long, brown hair out of his face - the hair simply moved for a second, then settled back just over his eyes.

Rouge recognized the name, and she raised an eyebrow. "Funny. You look older in person." She paused before adding, "I could swear that you're twelve looking at you in a photo."

The brown-haired beaver shrugged. "Eh, I get that a lot. Haha, just gotta kinda learn to laugh at yourself, ya know? It's all good."

Rouge nodded. "Right..." She then looked over to the other guy and blinked. "Oh, it's you. Walker, right?"

The orange echidna smiled at her brightly. "Yep, that's me. And, you're the girl who gets defensive about her makeup. Rouge."

"Excuse me? How would you know that?"

"You and your friends are really loud talkers, you know."

The bat's face flushed slightly as she recalled her groups' conversation involving Walker's clothes. "Right..." _Note to self: watch out for any possible attempts of revenge by the glittery echidna..._

Despite Rouge's train of thought, Walker didn't look insulted in the slightest. He stood up, pointing Rouge down the hallway. "You're going to be in the room on the right. Teeth and Zena have the left room. I haven't met the other girl, but she's some sort of bird..."

_Oh, Hell, no._ "Thanks..." Rouge walked down the hallway, cursing silently in her head. Some sort of bird? _Well, there must be a dozen other birds coming to this school. What are the odds that I get a room with the one person... _She opened the door slowly, only to see none other than Wave the Swallow sitting on one of the beds, polishing up an extreme gear board.

The purple swallow looked up, freezing in place, eyes locking with Rouge's, and, simultaneously, both girls shouted, "_You_!"

* * *

"Hello! You must be Amy! I'm Taylor the Swift, and I'll be your roommate this year." The friendly bird led Amy from the common room, into the girls' hallway to show her their room.

"Wait," the pink hedgehog said, "_**the**_ Taylor the Swift?" Taylor nodded. "I love your music! I have, like, all your albums on my yPod!"

The swift smiled. "Thank you, Amy. It's really nice to meet you, too. You're one of Sonic the Hedgehog's friends, right?"

Amy opened her mouth, _Yeah! I'm Sonic's girlfriend!_ "Yeah! I'm... one of Sonic's friends." The pink hedgehog sighed.

"Well, I'm sure we'll all get along really great here. You should come to the common room. I think some of your friends are part of the dorm family..."

"Just Knuckles..."

"Really? I thought that grey hedgehog looked familiar, too..."

"Silver's here?" Amy blinked, running down the hallway toward the common room. Knuckles' roommate, the buck, was sitting on the couch reading an art magazine.

The buck didn't look up from his magazine when Amy came running in, but he did say, "Hi, I'm Lep-hart."

"I'm Amy." She had been hoping that Silver would be in the common room.

Lephart noticed her looking around and sighed, "If you're looking for the guys, they're upstairs. The red one has the silver one locked up in his room, and Alex is trying to break the fight up."

Amy nodded in thanks but shook her head as she went for the stairs. _That's just like Knuckles. See an old friend - start a fight. I'm gonna go give him a piece of my mind... _And, with that, she marched toward the top of the staircase.


	2. Dorms and Dinner

Alright, now that this chapter's finished, we can read this and move on in the next chapter to the _important_ thing: class! (Hahahahaha, right...)

My Story Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any of the canon Sonic characters used and/or mentioned in this story (including but not limited to Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Silver, Blaze, Wave, Jet, Cream, Vector, Charmy, and Dr. Eggman). Nor do I own the inspiration from some of the other characters taken from other games/movies (such as Ganondorf Dragmire who belongs to the Zelda franchise, and Queen Grimhilde who belongs to Disney). Nor, again, do I own any objects or names that are associated with the Sonic universe, any other game or movie or tv show's universe, or any business/corporation names. In addition, the celebrity personas illustrated in the story mean no harm and are not meant to be offensive in any way.

My Chapter Disclaimer: The excerpt of lyrics used in this chapter do not belong to me - they are from the song "Fireflies" by Owl City, which I take NO credit for whatsoever.

Yes, that is probably unnecessarily long, but I take few chances. Now, what I DO own... All fancharacters and teachers used in this story are the product of my own imagination and belong entirely to me, save for a few who belong to Symphony-of-the-Soul.

**2. Dorms and Dinner**

"So, what's this 'meeting' for again?," Amy asked, looking around the common room. The guys - Knuckles, Silver, and each of their roommates: the young buck, Lephart, and a tall, thin golden retriever named Alexander - were all either leaning against the wall or lounging on the floor. Silver shrugged at Amy's question, so she turned her head toward the girls, who were comfortably seated on the couch.

Amy's roommate, Taylor, sat up, putting a white sheet of paper on the glass table in the center of the room. She then took out a pen and answered, "To explain the basic concept of the dorm family and lay some ground rules...:" The two girls beside Taylor - the tiger, Claws, and her roommate, a blonde doe named Scarlet - nodded, and she continued, "As usual, there are 192 students at MUCA this school year. We 192 have been divided based on personal preferences, temperaments, and various other indicators into the twenty-four different dorm families.

"This year, there are twenty-three of us seniors, so, in order to best acquaint the first-years to the school system, each senior has been assigned to a dorm - with, of course, the exception of Dorm C who have been assigned with simply an experienced student..." The tigress on Taylor's right unsuccessfully tried to stifle a fit of laughter at that statement, but Taylor didn't pause, "Anyway, this year, I was assigned to be your dorm leader. So, to start the year off right, I thought we should go over the basic school rules.

"First, curfew is at ten. At exactly ten o' clock, they lock the gates, and, if you're not in bed when our sector's assigned Watcher comes around, the dorm family is docked points. If the incident is repeated, you are also subject to disciplinary action..."

Amy glanced over at the guys. The blond dog, Alexander, looked half-asleep, Lephart was staring off into space, Silver was paying meticulous attention to the swift's speech, and poor Knuckles looked utterly and completely lost - a look that, Amy had a feeling, she'd be seeing a lot for the rest of the year.

"Each year, the dorm families compete to win a place in the Top Three. The families with the most points rank against all other dorms, and the three top-scoring teams are recognized at the end of the year with various awards: last year, the three dorm families were excused from all exams."

Knuckles stared at Taylor, completely baffled. The obvious question on his mind was, _"What the heck is an 'exam'?"_ But, besides that, all he'd registered was that the swift was doing a bunch of math, the school's name was apparently actually "Mue-kuh", and there was some sort of point about having to return to the dorm by ten... _I wonder what Sonic's doing... Tails'd better be watching the emerald... I'll have to call him tonight. _He then tried to zone back in to what Taylor was saying...

Amy sighed, wondering how much longer they had until dinner.

* * *

"Blaze! Is that you?"

"Sonic?" Blaze blinked, mildly surprised to see the blue hedgehog running into the dorm's common room. And, she froze up entirely when she was suddenly attacked by the hedgehog's lung-constricting embrace. "S-Sonic!" She flushed a light pink, noticing the six pairs of eyes from the rest of her dormmates, and she instantly frowned, trying her best to push Sonic off.

Sonic, of course, was oblivious, thrilled that he had found a familiar friend and wouldn't be stuck with only Dread, Shadow, and _Jet_ for a whole year; he hadn't given much thought to the lavender cat's personal space. So, it could only be expected that the moment Sonic released her from the hug, the feline took a step back to catch her breath... And, then, she kicked him, as hard as she possibly could, in the shin.

The whole room - save for Blaze and Sonic - burst into laughter as the blue hedgehog hopped around the room on one foot, clutching his injured leg. Blaze crossed her arms, hissing, "Don't _ever_ do that again, Sonic."

He simply flashed her a thumbs-up and, still in pain, agreed, "No worries."

A few moments passed before the hedgehog was again able to walk on his leg, and the laughter died. Everyone seemed to quickly forget the incident, and they took their places: some leaned against the wall, others sat on a chair or the couch.

A short silence passed among them as they waited, expecting someone to speak up, and, finally, Dread's deep voice broke the silence, "Alright, so here's the deal: be back on campus by ten or be prepared to climb the gate and sneak into the room." The dark-haired porcupine leaned against the back of the couch, apparently with no intention of saying anything else.

"That's it?," Sonic asked, unimpressed, leaning against the coffee table. "Who put _you_ in charge?"

"The school."

Sonic paused to register that, then he shook his head. "That makes _no_ sense. You're a first-year, too!"

Dread crossed his arms, bored. "No. I'm a freshman. This is far from my first year."

"Oh, even better!" Sonic clapped his hands together sarcastically. "So, they deem _The Big Fail _as suitable to be in charge!"

Jet, who looked more delighted than anything, ignored Sonic, asking eagerly, "Seriously? We have no rules?"

Dread answered, also ignoring Sonic, "Just two. One: if you ever feel pyro, make sure you set someone _else's_ building on fire. And, two: do whatever you want - just don't get caught."

Blaze adjusted her jacket self-consciously at the mention of fire, but no one appeared to notice. Sonic was preoccupied with being determined to be unhappy with his dorm leader, Jet looked as excited as if he'd just won the lottery, Shadow was standing in the corner of the room as if completely unaffected by the discussion, and Blaze's roommate, a brunnete echidna-looking girl, was completely silent, resting her back against the wall. The other two girls of the dorm - a red-furred rabbit named Ashley and a copper-haired vixen named Keaton - were both sitting on the large, neon green recliner by the left wall.

"That's it, then?" Jet grinned mischeviously. "I think I'm going to like it here."

Sonic sighed, walking over to Blaze. "How much longer until we're supposed to eat?"

She looked at the clock, thinking for a moment before replying, "Not long. Maybe half an hour."

"Plenty of time! Let's go visit some neighbors!"

* * *

"So, yeah," Zena, the giggly ground squirrel concluded, "and dinner's in thirty minutes!"

Walker yawned dramatically, shedding his thick leather jacket to reveal his puffy, pirate-esque, silver metallic shirt, and he asked, "What are we having?"

Rouge started toward her room, but Wave was there first, and the swallow was sitting, working on her board by the time Rouge got to the room. The bat shot her roommate a nasty look before proceeding to unpack one of her own suitcases, searching for an outfit to change into.

Wave glanced up from her board-polishing. "You aren't seriously going to change?"

"I, unlike some of my brutish roommates, am a _lady _and like to look nice," Rouge countered poisonously.

"Ha! You're about as much of a lady as Ladybug _Gaga_ in there." She gestured back toward the common area where she assumed Walker still was.

Rouge turned to scowl at the bird for the insult, but she paused, considering the jab at the orange echidna's style - something she, too, had noticed and had even earlier commented on. And, for a moment, she was unsure of whether to smack the swallow for the insult or laugh at the joke. But, the lure of gossip inevitably won her over; she smirked, commenting, "Honestly, black glitter eyeliner and metallic fabric - _overkill_."

Wave laughed cruelly, "And did you see those _shoes_?"

* * *

"Are you sure you all don't want sit with us?," Taylor asked one more time.

"No, it's fine, but thanks," Amy smiled, setting her tray down at one of the empty tables. Silver and Knuckles did the same as Taylor and the rest of their dormmates walked away. Amy sat down, waiting for the others to show up. Knuckles crinkled his nose slightly, looking at the food.

Silver was also scrutinizing the food, and, upon seeing Knuckles' expression, he said, "I hear the food's unpredictable here. Some days it's decent, some days it's great, and some days it's awful."

Knuckles glanced up at the pale grey hedgehog before looking back at the food. "Well, I'm gonna hope that today is one of the awful days..."

Amy stiffened suddenly, tapping her hand on the table to get Knuckles' attention. "Is that-?" The red echidna turned his head in the direction that Amy was looking in, and he just nodded. The pink hedgehog stared in disbelief as Rouge and Wave approached the table, laughing together.

"Hey, Amy," Rouge greeted as she sat down. She then added, "Knucklehead." Knuckles narrowed his eyes, and then Rouge nodded at Silver. "Kid whose name slips my mind."

Silver flashed a small smile. "It's okay. I don't remember your name either." Rouge rolled her eyes.

Amy watched Wave sit down next to Rouge, and she remained speechless, unsure of what to say. She distinctly remembered discussing how horrible the swallow was only a few hours earlier with Rouge. Finally, she removed her eyes from Wave, deciding to start conversation, "So, how are the dorms?"

"Interesting, to say the least," Rouge answered. "Turns out, Ladybug Gaga _**is **_a guy. And he's living upstairs in our dorm building!" Wave snickered.

Amy frowned, realizing that the bat was referring again to the orange echidna they had met earlier, and she turned, scanning the cafeteria for Walker. She spotted him quickly; he didn't exactly fit in with the rest of their classmates. He was sitting at a table, alone. Amy turned to Silver, who was the closest to herself, and she whispered, "Do you think he has anyone to sit with?"

Silver blinked, twisting his head around to look where she was pointing. "Um, I'm not sure..."

"Do you think we should ask him?"

Sighing, Silver stood up, picking up his tray. "I'm probably not going to eat this, anyway... You want me to take your tray, too, Knuckles?"

Knuckles was up in an instant with his own tray, defensive. "I CAN CARRY MY OWN TRAY!" Several people at the nearby tables, and a few bats, cats, dogs, and other animals with good hearing from all across the cafeteria looked up and stared at Knuckles. He stalked off to turn in his tray. Silver took his own tray and made his way over to Walker, the guy Amy had seemed so worried about.

Walker didn't look up immediately. He was staring at the top table in front of him, singing quietly to himself in a light, high tenor, "_But I'll know where several are, if my dreams get real bizarre, 'cuz I saved a few, and I keep them in a jar..." _Silver stopped for a moment, just listening. "_I'd like to make myself believe... that planet Earth turns slowly... It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep, 'cuz everything is never as it seems..."_

"Um, excuse me?"

The orange echidna's shoulders slumped over, nearly causing him to fall over onto the table. He looked up at Silver, eyes wide with surprise, breathing quickly.

Silver quickly took a step back, apologizing, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt or embarrass you or anything..."

Walker's eyes drooped a bit as he faintly shook his head."N-no...I'mn-ot-embarrassed...Jus'...S-surprised..."

A deep voice rang in from behind Silver, "Walker, are you okay?"

Silver turned toward the direction of the voice to see a tall porcupine with emotionless red eyes watching the echidna. When Walker didn't respond, Silver spoke up, "He didn't see me coming, so I think I surprised him when I said something."

The porcupine, Dread, flashed Silver a look that wasn't unlike a glare. "You shouldn't sneak up behind people."

Walker's breathing steadied after a few seconds, and his posture refined itself. He focused his eyes on Silver and asked, "...What did you want?"

The hedgehog apologized again before answering the question, "I'm sorry I surprised you, um..." He pointed back over to the table Amy and the others were at. "My friend... Um, Amy and I just wanted to know if you wanted to come sit with us, since you were over here... on your own..."

Walker glanced in the direction Silver was pointing and recognized Amy instantly. "That's very thoughtful, but... I don't really think there's room at the table."

Silver tilted his head, looking back. Sonic was at the table, and Jet was there, next to Wave. Shadow and Espio were sitting near each other, at the table but out of the conversation, and a purple cat Silver didn't recognize was there, as well. Amy, Rouge, and Knuckles were seated like before. "Oh..."

Dread took a chair next to the orange echidna, and Walker smiled warmly at Silver. "Thank you for the thought, and tell Amy I appreciate it, anyway."

Silver just nodded and walked away as Walker began to talk to Dread. The hedgehog turned his tray in at the designated area and returned to Amy. Amy noticed his approach instantly, saying, "Oh, Silver, I'm sorry, I was saving your seat, but then Blaze came, and..." She trailed off. "Where's Walker?" She turned around to see the orange echidna sitting at his table, chattering away to the silent porcupine.

"He didn't think there was room here for him... And then that other guy sat there, and I don't think he liked me..."

Sonic looked up, hearing the conversation. "Silver!" He then turned to look where they were both looking. "Who? Dread? Nah, he hates everybody."

Shadow didn't even bother to move his gaze from the table, but said wryly, "No, Faker. Everyone just hates you."

Sonic nodded. "Right, sorry. Shadow reminded me. Dread hates everybody _but _Shadow. _Emo buddies_."

Shadow scoffed, "Whatever, Faker."

Silver shook his head. "I think I surprised him... The orange one - um, Walker... He acted kinda strange for a minute...

Amy shrugged. "People usually do when they're surprised."

"No, I mean, he was talking funny at first... And he sort of looked like he was about to collapse..."

Wave smirked evilly. She wasn't well-acquainted with the grey hedgehog, but she had no intention of passing up an opportunity to torment him a bit. She spoke devilishly, "Sounds like _someone_ has a crush on you..."

Silver flushed a bright fuchsia, stammering, "Wh-What? No, it's not like - I don't - I..." Amy shot a glare across the table to the bird.

Espio stood up and gestured for Silver to follow him; gratefully, the hedgehog walked after him. The two exited the lunchroom and started walking down the sidewalk. Espio sighed, "You shouldn't listen to what people say so much..."

Silver nodded. "Oh, I know... I don't believe her or anything... I was just... flustered, I guess. Surprised."

"And you don't think it is likely that the same thing happened to him?"

"I guess so... It just... I don't know. I thought something was wrong... I guess people just have different sorts of reactions to surprise." Espio nodded. "So, what sorts of classes are you hoping to get?"

The chameleon tilted his head. "Other than the basics... Hm. Culture would be a fascinating class. Psychology would be interesting, as well. And you?"

"Yeah, those sound alright... I don't know. Maybe Psychology and... Art? ...When do we pick up our schedules, anyway?"

"Sometime in the morning. Classes are only about fifty minutes tomorrow, to get everyone used to the schedule."

"Alright... Cool. Classes tomorrow, then huh?" He paused, turning back. "And... Thanks for saving me back there, Espio. You're a good friend."

The chameleon flashed a rare smile. "I know."


	3. On the First Day of Classes

Alright. My computer was down for almost a month. And, then I went into a period of complete and utter writer's block (not to mention, I couldn't find all my brainstorming pages for the chapter). Still... I have finally managed to finish this chapter - much to my joy. And, as I've been out of school for this entire week due to snow, I've got a pretty good bearing on the direction for the next chapter. So, hopefully, I can finish that chapter this weekend - in between studying for my exams... (Psh... Studying. Ha, _right_. Like that's gonna happen...)

Thanks to my reviewers and your inspiring words! :D And, thank you also to Symphony-of-the-Soul for helping me look up random things on the internet that all, somehow, contributed to this story.

So, without further nonsense...

My Story Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any of the canon Sonic characters used and/or mentioned in this story (including but not limited to Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Silver, Blaze, Wave, Jet, Cream, Vector, Charmy, and Dr. Eggman). Nor do I own the inspiration from some of the other characters taken from other games/movies (such as Ganondorf Dragmire who belongs to the Zelda franchise, and Queen Grimhilde who belongs to Disney). Nor, again, do I own any objects or names that are associated with the Sonic universe, any other game or movie or tv show's universe, or any business/corporation names. In addition, the celebrity personas illustrated in the story mean no harm and are not meant to be offensive in any way.

Chapter Disclaimer: I do not own Google... I do not own one of Jet's comebacks that he makes at the lunch table - it belongs to Symphony-of-the-Soul. I do not own any of the literature mentioned like The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. And, I do not own little references to literature (namely, in this chapter, the Jabberwocky).

* * *

**3. Day One**

"Room 303?" Rouge looked at her schedule again, then she scanned the area, looking at the large, white school buildings.

Wave shrugged. "It's got to be one of them. Not like they're going to count us late on the first day, anyway... Where's the senior chick? Can't we just ask her?"

Rouge shook her head. "If we head all the way back to the dorm now, then there's no way we'll be on time to class. We can just look for someone else..."

"Whatever." The purple swallow glanced over to the side, catching some movement. "Hey, is Sparkles in class with us?"

Rouge turned the direction Wave was looking, and she saw Walker heading toward the doors of one of the buildings. She tilted her head. "Well, he's a first-year, right?"

"It's worth a shot." So, the two girls kept a distance behind the orange echidna but followed him into the building. The hall was quiet when they entered; few students were there - only classes for Freshmen and Sophomores were held during first-period, so only about half of the school was awake. Walker took a right into a classroom, and the girls followed a few feet behind.

The classroom was fairly large in size: a room big enough to comfortably seat fifty people was waiting at the bottom of a small set of stairs through the classroom door. Rouge saw Shadow instantly, seated on the side of the classroom just in front of the stairs, and she walked over to him, sitting down in the desk next to his. "Well, this looks fun, don't you think, Shadow?"

The frowning hedgehog barely glanced at her. "Oh, yes. Just about as fun as stabbing myself in the eye with a pencil."

Amy, who was sitting a few desks behind Shadow, cringed a bit at that mental picture; Rouge, however, laughed, "Enthusiastic as ever, I see." She took a look around the room as Wave sat down, and the bat tilted her head. "Where is everyone? Class starts in, like, five minutes, right?"

Wave nodded and replied, "Yes, but in teenage boy time, five minutes might as well be five hours. They'll be here at either the last second possible, or they'll be late. Mark my words." The swallow looked up then and glanced toward the back wall of the room. There was a desk - a highly unorganized desk - that was covered in books and all sorts of notes. A few feet away from the desk, in the center of the room was a podium, standing next to a table. On the table were a few notebooks, some more books, some more notes; below the table was a bookshelf full of - yes - more books. "Well, we're certainly in English class." A dark-haired, serious-looking chipmunk was seated at the desk, quite focused on his computer. He looked fairly young, no older than his late-thirties, Wave guessed. "And, I'm assuming that's Mr. Fish."

Amy glanced nervously at the clock, then at the door. Where _was_ everyone? She continued to glance back and forth until there were only thirty seconds left before the bell, and, then, just like that, the rest of the students began to show up.

Knuckles walked in, and, after scanning the room for a semi-friendly face, he took the desk next to Amy. Blaze and Espio both arrived at about the same time, and Blaze sat by herself, a few desks away from Knuckles. Espio sat on the opposite side of the room, a couple of desks away from Walker. Then came a brown wolf, who sat near Espio, and a brunette, echidna-looking girl, who sat in a desk between Espio and Walker.

When only five seconds were left before the bell, Silver showed up and immediately blurted out, "Am I late?" When Amy shook her head, the white-grey hedgehog took a deep, relieved breath and sat down in the first available seat - between Knuckles and Blaze.

With about half a second left before the late bell, the tall porcupine, Dread, stepped into the room, and the bell rang out as he descended the stairs. As he was on his way to sit in the desk in front of Walker, Jet and Sonic both rushed through the doorway at the same time. The entire class turned to look at them.

Jet tripped down the stairs, landing flat on his beak, but then he quickly stood up, holding a victorious hand in the air. "I WIN!"

Sonic jumped over the stairs, landing at the bottom of them, and he glared at the green bird, shouting, "You did not! I got there a _full _hundredth of a second before you ever did!"

"Yeah, on OPPOSITE DAY, MAYBE!"

At the front of the classroom, the tall chipmunk, Mr. Fish, stood up from his desk. Amy shot a warning glare at Sonic and Jet, whispering, "Guys! You're late! Sit down!"

Both boys looked at her, tilting their heads in a simultaneous, "Huh?"

Wave shook her head and said clearly, "If you don't sit down in the next two seconds, you're guaranteed to get a detention."

"Right." Both guys raced to their seats. Sonic sat in front of Knuckles, and Jet sat near Dread on the opposite side of the room.

Everyone ignored the obnoxiously loud, "I WIN," that came from Jet's desk.

As Jet's shout faded, the class was left in total silence, staring at their teacher. Mr. Fish carried a mug of coffee over to his table in the center of the room, and he moved a notebook to the podium next to it. Without a word, he opened the notebook and flipped to a certain page. He picked up a pen.

Fish's deep, comical voice called out, "Rouge the Bat?"

"Here," Rouge sang across the room, automatically.

"Good, good... " Fish checked her name off in his notebook, nodding in acknowledgment in her direction. Then he looked to the next name. "Do I have a Queen Blaze the Ca-"

"Please. Just Blaze."

The tall chipmunk scribbled a note on his attendance sheet before taking a long swig of coffee from the mug beside him. "Ah, understandable. Sorry about that, Miss Blaze..." He turned his attention back to the attendance sheet and continued, "Espio the Chameleon?"

"Present."

"Nice to meet you. Knuckles the Echidna?"

"Huh?" Knuckles blinked.

Rouge rolled her eyes, but the teacher, Mr. Fish, simply nodded and continued, "Half-here, then. Alright... Jet the Hawk?"

"Here!"

"Good to see you here..." Mr. Fish looked up from his paper to eye Shadow and Silver. "I assume you aren't all related?"

Silver tilted his head, but Shadow, understanding, gave a firm, "_No_."

"Alright. Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"Here."

"Nice to see you. Silver the Hedgehog?"

"Here?," Silver responded, somewhat confused.

Mr. Fish nodded quickly. "Good, good... And, the last of my Hedgehogs: Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Present and ready to learn, sir!" The blue hedgehog flashed a thumbs-up at the teacher, grinning.

Shadow coughed loudly, though the sound of a hissed, "_Kiss-up_!," was faintly audible. Jet sniggered; Sonic glared.

Fish didn't look up from marking his attendance sheet, but after marking the hedgehog down, he did say, "I can see we're all getting along..." He then looked to the next name on the sheet and smiled slightly, looking up at the dark porcupine sitting at the front of the classroom. "Ah, Mr. Lox, good to see you back again this year."

Dread smirked, turning away from his conversation with Walker to face the teacher. "Same to you, Fish... Ready to get rid of me this year?"

The brown-haired chipmunk raised an eyebrow. "Planning on passing this year, Mr. Lox?"

"Yes, indeed."

Fish considered the words for a moment before returning to his attendance sheet. "Care to give a reason?"

"I shouldn't think it would take much of one."

"Fair enough," Mr. Fish chimed, checking the porcupine's name from the list. "Amy Rose?"

Amy raised her hand. "Here."

"Hello, Miss Rose. Good to see you in class... Wave the Swallow?"

"Here," Wave said, bored already.

The tall chipmunk paused at the next name, trying to figure out what to say. After a moment, he shook his head, "I'm not even going to try to pronounce your last name. Axe?"

Walker cringed a bit, raising his hand. "It's...Tliltic. Like... Lleelt-eek." As all the eyes in the classroom went to him, he stuttered a bit, uncomfortable with the attention. "...It's from the Nahuatl language... I-it just means 'black'..."

Fish watched the orange echidna, expressionless. "Understandable. Axe Black, then?"

"N-no! Um..." Walker closed his eyes, taking a breath. "I... Just call me Walker..."

"Walker?" Fish looked up from jotting a note on his sheet, and he smiled. "So, you must be the famous Walker I've heard so much about."

Walker blinked. "...um... What?" The orange echidna shot a panicked glance at Dread, who was sitting right in front of him, but the porcupine only kept his signature smirk, offering no comfort.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Black."

"...um... You... too?"

"Now, then: Katana... I'm assuming you're related to Mr. Black."

The quiet echidna girl sitting against the room's back wall, Blaze's roommate, said dully, "We're twins. I'm Kimaera. Just Kim is fine."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kim." Mr. Fish marked her name off and read the last name on the list, "Micheal the Wolf."

"Here."

Fish set down his role-book and took another swig of coffee as the class watched in total silence...

BAM! The entire class jumped in surprise, and several - namely, Knuckles, Espio, Blaze, and Shadow - were on their feet, ready to go after the threat.

Only a burst of hollow, somewhat maniacal laughter from the front of the room made the class realize that the disturbance had been Fish purposely slamming his fist down on a nearby filing cabinet.

Amy put a hand over her heart, trying to calm herself. Espio slowly put away the two shurikens he'd automatically armed himself with and sat back down. Rouge and Wave both tried to steady their breathing, while Sonic attempted to play it off like he hadn't jumped along with the rest of the class. Silver was trying his hardest not to draw attention to his own moment of fear. Dread's eyes held an amused glint as he looked over his classmates, but even he was breathing heavily. Walker had collapsed onto his desk entirely, fainted.

Fish continued to laugh at his joke.

Shadow, Knuckles, and Blaze were not amused.

The black- and red-furred hedgehog cocked his gun, aiming it right at the tall chipmunk he'd decided was a homicidal lunatic - well, that's what his defense was going to be in court, anyway.

At the sound of the gun, Fish stopped laughing, looking at his three standing students with raised eyebrows.

Blaze snarled dangerously, and she and Knuckles suddenly shouted, so perfectly in-sync that it was hard to believe they hadn't rehearsed, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"Teaching strategy #72," the teacher replied, unfazed, " 'To capture the attention of your audience, random, alarming disturbances are necessary.' "

As the class stared in disbelief at their teacher, Dread leaned over to rummage through Walker's bag: he pulled out a bottle of water and set it on Walker's desk, giving the passed-out echidna's arm a slight shake. Walker didn't stir, so Dread turned back toward the class. "It works. When he's actually teaching. ...Other times, he just enjoys it."

Very reluctantly, Shadow disarmed his gun and sat down. Blaze and Knuckles followed suit, but they watched their teacher very carefully.

Fish waited for a few moments to make sure his class had calmed down, but he didn't bring up a question about the weapons. He'd leave that to another teacher if it happened again. "So... Summer reading projects..."

Knuckles' face blanched. "Summer what?"

Amy turned toward him, holding up a book that Knuckles was fairly certain she had not ever had before that moment. She said, "Our summer reading assignment, Knuckles. The Sun Also Rises?"

The red echidna stared at her blankly.

At the front of the classroom, Fish picked up a stack of papers and continued, "So, you'll have twenty minutes for this test. Just twenty-five questions... Easy stuff..." He walked over to the left side of the classroom, passing out the papers there first.

"Test?," Knuckles yelled, unintentionally drawing the attention of his entire class.

Fish didn't say a word; he simply finished passing out the tests and started his timer.

Knuckles stared miserably at the two pages in front of him, full of questions he was pretty sure he wouldn't know even if he _had_ read the book. _"In what war was Jake injured?" ...Who the heck is "Jake"?_

The room returned to silence.

Walker woke up about fifteen minutes into the test and was startled to find the papers on his desk. One glance around the room told him what was going on, so he retrieved a pen from the bag next to his desk and started marking away.

"Time's up," Fish announced.

Simultaneously, Espio, Walker, and Blaze stood up and walked to the front of the classroom to turn their papers in. Amy glanced to the desk next to her, whispering fiercely, "Knuckles! That's it: you have to turn it in!"

"I'm not finished!," he growled in response.

Sonic turned around in his chair to look at the frustrated echidna, starting, "Look, Knux, you didn't read, so..."

"YES, I DID READ!" He lowered his voice to a mumble as he saw Fish approaching to confiscate his test, "-I just... Can't remember who 'Jake' is..."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Jake's the main character, Knuckles." And, the teacher pulled the test away from the poor red echidna.

Walker took a drink from the water bottle on his desk, then flashed a peace sign across the room, saying loudly, "Don't worry, dude. I Christmas Tree'd that thing!"

"Thank you, Mr. Black, for sharing that with the class," Fish said, nodding at Walker.

The orange echidna smiled. "No problem!"

* * *

"Welcome to anatomy, everyone!" The teacher, a black-furred rabbit, Mrs. Burroughs, smiled enthusiastically at the class. She received a few mumbled replies.

Rouge glanced at Wave, whispering, "I can already tell I'm going to like this class."

Wave shrugged, whispering back, "I heard it's just a bunch of coloring."

Mrs. Burroughs continued, oblivious to the chatting in her classroom, "Now I'm going to give each of you a syllabus..." She gave a stack of papers to the white tigress sitting in the first seat and told her to pass them out. "And, if any of you have any questions at all about the class, I'll take them right now..."

Rouge giggled as Wave raised her hand. Mrs. Burroughs smiled, apparently excited that someone actually was willing to ask something, and she pointed at Wave, asking, "Yes, dear?"

Wave folded her hands, asking with complete clarity, "Exactly where will we begin and end in our studies?"

The older rabbit answered, "We'll be studying the anatomy of most every basic creature in the animal kingdom, excluding fish and amphibians. We'll spend about a week each on the anatomy of similar animals..." She then paused. "Well, except for a select few who are so unique in their anatomy that they require more personal study, of course. Like bats, or the monotremes, for example." The teacher smiled, glancing at Rouge, then at Knuckles. Rouge returned the smile, but Knuckles did his best to avoid the rabbit's eyes.

On the other side of the room, Walker was eyeing the laboratory area with wary eyes. He wasn't sure how comfortable he was with there being a lab in a classroom dedicated to the study of the body.

* * *

The owl adjusted her round spectacles, staring down from the stage at her new students. She wrapped her shawl around herself carefully as the students all took their seats in the auditorium. She cleared her throat and raised her wings dramatically, "Welcome... to the _theater_!"

Amy listened carefully to the drama teacher, Miss English, give her dramatic monologue about the class. Most of the speech Amy had expected. She knew that she would be practicing monologues and plays and such - that was what drama was, right?

But, then came the words from the brown owl she hadn't completely expected, "Trust is the foundation of all great arts. One must trust himself, one must trust his abilities, and, most of all, in the theater, one must trust his fellow man... And, so, as our time runs short this week, we shall take the next two days of class to get to know one another in a few games..."

Amy tilted her head, wondering what was coming. She glanced around at her classmates, all seated in the first few rows of the auditorium. Walker was the first one she recognized, sitting by himself - as he always was when the dark-haired porcupine wasn't about... She looked around, hoping to see someone else, but the only other familiar sight was Jet. She cringed upon seeing him, wondering what he was even doing in drama class. _Guess he didn't have enough credits, so they put him in here..._

"To start off, I'm going to put each of you with a partner, and you will be given a starting situation... You will improv your lines in front of the class."

Amy sighed. Well, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. She wasn't necessarily bad with improvisation, she didn't think...

Miss English looked down her attendance sheet, randomly pairing names together. Amy didn't pay complete attention as the names were all unfamiliar to her until the teacher said, "Walker... and... Emily." Amy glanced up to see the orange echidna stand up just before a small brown mouse. They both walked off to stand next to the other pairs. "Jet...and... Amy."

Amy froze. _...Surely not._ The green bird stood up and began to approach her, though. So, the pink hedgehog gritted her teeth and stood up as well.

When the partners had all been assigned, the owl watched the students through her spectacles carefully for a moment before she asked, "Alright, then, can I have any volunteers to go first?"

A few moments of silence passed before the brown mouse Walker was standing with raised her hand and said, "We'll go, Miss English."

The class watched as Walker and the mouse, Emily, ascended the steps to the stage. Miss English nodded at the two of them and said, "Alright, one of you will be the babysitter, and the other will be a child. The babysitter is trying to put the child to sleep, but the child will not go. Remember: it's all in good fun. Be creative!" She backed away a few steps, and Walker whispered something to Emily. She nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Miss English waited for them to begin, but, when they didn't, she finally said, "And... action!"

The tiny mouse Emily paced across the stage for a moment before turning and approaching Walker, who was now seated on the stage playing with imaginary toys, with a sweet voice, "Alright, Walker, honey - it's time for bed..."

The orange echidna glanced up at the babysitter but apparently decided to ignore her.

"Ahem," Emily tried again, "Walker, dear, you need to get to bed..."

"No, thank you," he brightly replied, not looking up at her.

Emily placed her hands on her hips, "It wasn't a question, Walker. You're going to bed."

And, just like that, the orange echidna exploded into a fit of crocodile tears, latching onto the mouse's leg, "No! You can't make me go," he wailed. "The Jabberwocky will get me!"

"...The Jabberwocky...?" Emily raised an eyebrow but shook her head.

Amy couldn't help but giggle at the performance. It continued on for a few minutes before Miss English finally cut it off, saying that they needed to let other groups have a try. None of the other groups were quite as dramatic as the first performance; eventually, however, it was Amy's turn. And, half-wanting to bolt, she walked up to the stage with Jet.

Miss English thought for a moment before nodding at them and saying, "Alright. Now, one of you is going to be a member of a new religious group, and you are going to try to convince the other to quit his own religion to join you. Ready?"

Amy blinked. Would she be able to come up with a new religion that quickly? She almost giggled, as she thought of perhaps becoming a worshiper of chili dogs. Surely that would gain followers; it would, at least, appeal to Sonic and Tails, certainly.

Jet, however, much to her surprise, whispered, "Don't worry; I got this." And, before she could respond, the teacher had called for them to begin.

So, awkwardly, Amy stood still on the stage, waiting for Jet to do something.

After a moment, he asked, "Hey, Pinky, what are you - ya know, in a religious perspective?"

Amy blinked, then just decided that he'd make his point no matter what she said, so she replied, "Well, I'm Christian. Why?"

"Don't you ever get tired of talking to someone you can't see and who doesn't answer your questions?"

Amy blinked. "...What are you suggesting?"

"I'm just sayin' I found the answer." He nodded sagely. "The _real _omnipotent ones are computers."

"Excuse me?"

"Just sayin'. Ya know, God can't give you all the answers. God doesn't have a _'Google' _option." Caught off guard, Amy had to fight back a laugh. "He doesn't save your work or e-mail things to people. Computers are the omnipotent ones. Yeah."

Amy crossed her arms, returning the argument playfully. "And, you also can't shut him down. You can't unplug him and let his battery run out and expect him to leave you alone. He's always there."

"So are computers," the green hawk countered. "Did you know, on average, you get video-taped anywhere from one hundred to two hundred times a day?"

Amy smirked at her own argument. "Well, did you know, _on average_, God watches you twenty-four hours of the day?"

Amy heard a few laughs from the rest of the class as well as one guy, who had apparently forgotten that their whole argument wasn't even real, comment, "_Burrr-n_..." Amy giggled as Miss English called an end to their little skit.

Maybe Jet wasn't so bad.

* * *

The cafeteria was mostly empty when Amy and Jet set their trays down on their chosen table. There was no sign of the rest of the gang: apparently, everyone else had either already eaten during the previous class period or had gone back to class again. There were a few seniors in the lunchroom who looked as though they were just waking up, but the majority of the few creatures scattered throughout the cafeteria were students from drama class.

Amy sighed, poking at a white vegetable on her plate. "Guess we're eating lunch alone on Mondays, huh?"

Jet didn't bother to look at what he was eating, instead opting to see how much of it he could stuff into his beak at one time. Upon hearing Amy's question, however, he forced himself to swallow and take a drink before answering, "Looks like it!" He yawned, leaning back in his chair. "Fine by me, though. Any break from hearing Wave go on and on about stupid stuff that no one cares about - like science or math or how she doesn't get enough appreciation, blah, blah, _blah_ - is a gift."

Amy watched him shoveling the food with slight disgust. The meat on the plate was unidentifiable - but, then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. But, the vegetables were odd things: odd, bitter things. "Are those turnips or radishes?"

The hawk shrugged, swallowing again. "How should I know? I'm no farmer!"

Amy crinkled her nose, looking at the partially-eaten vegetable on her own plate. "Well, they're gross, either way. How can you eat them?"

"I'm a bird," he grumbled in between bites. "Less taste buds than you."

The pink hedgehog tilted her head, unsure of whether or not that was true. It was an interesting thought. She shrugged. It would explain some things, at least. She looked up as someone took a seat across the table.

Jet nearly jumped out of his chair as someone sat down next to him, but then he realized who it was and calmed down. "Oh - it's you. God, you scared me for a minute there! I thought it was Wave!"

Espio gave the bird an odd look.

"Sorry 'bout that. The pink just threw me off for a second there."

Espio crossed his arms, a rare flicker of annoyance in his amber eyes. "I am quite _**purple**_."

Amy shook her head, deciding to speak up before Jet could say anything else, "So, Espio, what are you doing here?"

The chameleon turned to face her and answered, "Culture starts in an hour. I was hoping that Knuckles would be here, since he is the only other one I know of taking the class."

"Oh." Amy looked down at her plate again, then pushed it toward the center of the table. "Well, he's not here. We haven't really seen anyone. I haven't seen Sonic since third period..."

Espio nodded. "I saw him on the way here. He has no classes for the remainder of the day..."

"Really?" Amy considered that for a moment before a stray thought crossed her mind. "Wait, Knuckles wasn't with Sonic?"

"No."

"So, what was Sonic doing?"

The chameleon caught the dangerous tone in Amy's voice, so he said as calmly as possible, "I believe he was going on a tour of the school... A few juniors and sophomores were showing him around..."

Amy was going to ask for specific details on these "juniors" and "sophomores", but her attention was caught by an orange echidna who was sitting by himself at a nearby table. She glanced at a nearby clock. They'd been sitting down for over twenty minutes, and there was an hour left before next class. She glanced around the room for any sign of the echidna's porcupine friend, but when she didn't see him, she turned to Espio. "Espio, will you turn around and ask that guy to sit with us?"

The chameleon blinked, surprised that Amy wasn't going to give him twenty questions about the crowd Sonic was with. He quickly nodded, though, and turned to the table behind him to see who she was talking about. "Walker?" He glanced back at the pink hedgehog, and she nodded, so he stood up and walked a few steps over to the orange echidna's table.

Walker looked up as Espio approached, and the echidna smiled in recognition. "Hey there, Es."

Espio flinched slightly at the nickname, but he gestured back toward the table Jet and Amy were seated at. "If you're going to sit there for an hour with no one to talk to, then you may as well come sit with us."

Walker rolled his eyes. "She's gonna make someone come over here to ask me at every meal until I say yes, isn't she?"

"Most likely."

The orange echidna shook his head but picked up the black messenger bag by his chair, pulling it over his shoulder. "Alright, roomie... I'll go."

Amy grinned at Jet as they watched Espio return with Walker, and she whispered, "Told you. Third time's the charm! ...So, that means you lose~..." The hawk scowled, reluctantly picking up his own tray as well as Amy's. He stood up and carried the trays to the tray deposit.

Espio sat down at the table again, and Walker took one of the other free chairs. Walker waved semi-awkwardly at Amy and greeted her with a simple, "Hey."

Amy beamed. "Hi, Walker! I'm so glad you could sit with us! Your performance in drama was great!"

"Um... thank you?" He smiled at her overly-zealous greeting. "...So, where are all your friends?"

"In class, I guess," Amy answered. But, the question made her remember what Espio had said earlier about Sonic... "Espio, exactly who was Sonic with earlier again?"

The chameleon stared down at his hands resting on the table. "Running around campus with a few others..."

"Others?"

"I do not know their names, of course..."

Amy's eyes narrowed as she caught on to Espio's avoidance of her question. "What did they look like, Espio?"

He sighed, knowing what she was asking. "Yes, they were girls."

Walker tilted his head, cutting in, "Wait, Sonic's the blue one, right?" Espio nodded, and Walker looked at Amy. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Amy opened her mouth to say that he was, but she was cut off by Jet sitting down next to her and answering, "She wishes." Amy glared.

Walker glanced at the hawk, noting the quick answer, and he smirked. "Oh. So, is he your boyfriend, then?"

Amy snorted, waiting for Jet to explode in fury; much to Amy's disappointment, however, the hawk casually answered, "Nah. That'd break all my adoring fangirls' hearts."

Walker raised an eyebrow. "Fangirls?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Psh. _HE_ wishes."

Espio shook his head as Walker and Amy laughed; Jet was in his own happy thoughts, oblivious. Espio looked up at the wall to his left, noting the time on the giant clock. He stood up. "Does anyone know where the culture classroom is?"

Walker shrugged. "No. I only know where my classes are."

Amy tilted her head. "What class do you have next?"

"Umm... " Walker reached into the black bag at his side, taking out a folded yellow sheet of paper. He scanned it quickly. "Child Care with Clarke..."

"Us, too!" Amy smiled, motioning to herself and Jet. "We all have the same schedule on Mondays!"

"Really? I don't think you were in my anatomy class..."

"Oh. Well, I have biology, not anatomy. But, other than that..."

Espio took a breath and stood up. "I am off to find either Knuckles or my classroom - whichever I happen upon first."

Walker waved at the chameleon in dismissal. "Alright. See ya later, Es!"

"How do you know Espio, Walker?," Amy asked as the chameleon walked away.

"We're roomies," he answered.

Amy grinned, remembering how frightened Espio had been the previous day to find out who his roommates would be. "You didn't fill out the form for placement in dorms, either?"

Walker's face fell slightly as his blue eyes focused on the table. "...No. I filled it out."

Amy's grin faded as she caught on to the dull tone in Walker's voice. She started to ask him what was wrong, but... Instead, she changed the subject. "So, what are your hobbies, Walker?"

* * *

"Thank God that's over," Wave said, standing up and putting her pencil away.

Rouge yawned, also standing up. "I hate math..."

Wave walked out of the classroom, followed by Rouge. They walked outside the building and took a quick look over the campus. "What now?," Wave asked.

Rouge stopped in place, trying to straighten her own hair with her hands. "Well, that's it for me. I don't have any classes this afternoon or tomorrow morning."

"I don't have anything until last period. So, I've got about an hour and a half with the week's short schedule." The swallow checked her watch to make sure she was right.

"Well, after you get out of last period, we could go shopping. They posted class materials on the cafeteria wall at lunch."

"Alright, whatever. But, I'm not waiting around for people."

The bat nodded. "I'll tell Amy when she gets out of her last class, and we can be waiting."

"Hmph. Fine." Wave chose a random direction and began following the sidewalk, deciding to explore campus. Rouge followed; she had nothing better to do.

So, it was by an unfortunate, random coincidence that they stumbled their way into upperclassman territory.

* * *

Knuckles and Espio sat down next to each other, feeling extremely out-of-place among their surroundings. Knuckles' eyes roved the room, noting all the eyes that were on him, and he whispered cautiously to Espio, "Espio, what do we do?"

"Stare at your desk. Don't make eye contact. They can sense fear," the chameleon wisely told him. Knuckles quickly followed his instructions.

Neither had suspected that they were going to be in class with seventeen girls and no other guys.

The bell rang, and a tall, slender cat sauntered into the room, smiling at the class. Her dazzling ice-colored eyes swept across the room, resting for a few seconds on Knuckles and Espio before moving on. Her voice rang out after a moment, welcoming them, "Good afternoon, class... I hope you're all as happy to be here as I am..."

Knuckles refused to look up, choosing to follow Espio's advice with no exceptions - not even for teachers who just happened to be girls. Of course, his obviously averted stare only drew the teacher's attention.

The light blue-furred cat rested her gaze on Knuckles as she continued, "I may not be familiar to most of you, since this is my first year teaching at M.U.C.A... I am _Miss_ Tracey..." She emphasized the "Miss" almost too well.

Espio leaned slightly to his left, whispering to Knuckles, "You must at least stare at the wall behind the teacher. Obvious avoidance of eye contact is one of the key signals of fear." The echidna quickly obeyed, locating a spot to the teacher's right and focusing on it.

"As you all know, I'm sure, this is Culture class, where will be studying all the finer ideals of culture: etiquette, attire..."

Knuckles glanced at Espio, panicked, breathing, "I thought this was going to be about culture_**s**_, like our culture, and Acorn Kingdom culture, and Earth culture, and..." Espio put up a hand to silence Knuckles, noticing the teacher's eyes still focused on the echidna.

Miss Tracey tapped her perfectly-manicured nails on her desktop as she said, "Today, of course... We'll be looking at what you already know..." She picked up a stack of papers and began to hand out the pieces of paper. "The only grade for this will be completion, of course... Don't worry if you don't know an answer." She smiled warmly as she returned to her desk after handing all the papers out. "That is what this class is for." She gestured with her hand toward the door. "Class dismissed."

A couple of the girls across the room exchanged confused glances, and a murmur of, "Can she do that? Can we leave?," filled the classroom.

But, Knuckles and Espio gratefully stood up and were out the door before she could change her mind.

* * *

"We-ell, what do we have here...?"

Wave and Rouge continued walking, ignoring the small crowd of seniors and juniors. They were all guys with athletic builds, likely players on the school's various sports teams. But, they were less than interesting to Wave. And, Rouge just followed Wave, since she had no intention of being left alone in a foreign area with a bunch guys she didn't know, who were making passes at her and her new friend.

If only ignoring people always worked.

* * *

Walker, Amy, Jet, and Silver were all seated together in child care class. Their teacher, Mrs. Clarke, was at the front of the room, giving a long introduction to the class. Unfortunately for the teacher, most of her speech was lost upon her keen English accent - which was all that most of her class was paying attention to.

"I wish I talked like that," one of the girls sitting near Amy mused to a friend. The girl then proceeded to feign the accent and say, "I'd always go about asking for tea and crumpets all day!" Naturally, the entire classroom could hear the girl's lousy attempt.

However, luckily for the girl, Mrs. Clarke was good-natured enough to only laugh at the attempt and continue with her speech.

Amy doodled idly on the back of the class syllabus she'd received in Biology I, making a small sketch of a heart and tracing Sonic's initials inside it. Walker was texting - rather conspicuously - with his phone under the desk.

Jet glanced over at the orange echidna and snickered, "I see you're playing my favorite game: 'Let's Make It Obvious'."

Walker's gaze didn't break from the electronic screen below his fingertips. "Shut up." The hawk snickered again.

Silver, unlike most of the class, was actually trying to pay attention... But, he was having difficulty becoming excited about the class: he hadn't willingly signed up for child care... Apparently, the school just thought he should take the class. He froze, glancing at the camera in the corner of the room. But, why would they think he would need the class? Did they know something he didn't? Nervously, he chewed at the eraser on his pencil...

* * *

"Oh, come on, birdie, just talk to us for a minute..."

Wave and Rouge glared at the guy who was standing in the middle of the pathway, blocking them from leaving. Nearly an hour of trying their best to ignore the crowd of guys had not paid off. With no other options left, Wave addressed the dark brown-furred wildcat in front of her. "Fine. I see you're keen on getting yourself humiliated in public today. I suppose I might as well be the one to do it."

The wildcat smirked as his friends snickered at the challenge. His eyes watched her. "Now, now, birdie, don't get smart with me..."

"Me? Getting smart?" She faked a look of shock. "I'm surprised you can recognize it."

"Oh, come on, sweetheart, why you gotta be that way?"

Wave sneered, mimicking his tone, "Why _you_ gotta be in _my_ way?"

The wildcat's smirk widened as he stepped off the sidewalk. "Alright, fine, birdie: have it your way... But I'll be seein' _you_ around..."

Wave grabbed Rouge's arm, pulling her along. The swallow just shouted back as her last response, "As long as it's from a distance of at least fifty yards, I don't care," and quickly led Rouge back to safety, away from the guys. She sighed when the upperclassmen were out of earshot, "Finally. I hate guys like that..."

Taking the opportunity, Rouge crossed her arms, smiling slyly, "Oh, really? What kind of guys do you like, then?"

The swallow scowled, catching the glint in Rouge's eye. She responded blatantly, "No."

"Wave! We have to talk about this if we're going to be friends."

"Who said we were friends, Bat?"

"Do you like Jet?"

"_NO_." Wave shuddered. "He's, like, way younger than me, he never listens when I talk, and he has no respect for the wonders of technology!"

Rouge grinned triumphantly. "So, then, you like guys who are either around your age or older than you, who listen when you talk, and who respect technology."

"...Go find something to do. My class starts soon." The purple swallow walked away, toward the academic buildings.

Rouge, still grinning, yelled after her, "Don't forget we're going shopping in an hour!"

* * *

"Amy, come on, we're leaving!" Amy looked up from her conversation, hearing Rouge and Wave call for her. Was it time to go shopping already?

The pink hedgehog nodded, glancing at Walker. "Um... Walker... Hang on. I'm going to ask something."

Walker gave her a confused look as she bounded off toward the two girls. Wave started toward the parking lot and Rouge began to follow.

Amy looked back at Walker, who was standing alone, leaning against the side of the building. She frowned, turned to the girls, and asked, "Hey, um, Rouge, Wave? Why don't we bring Walker, too?"

Wave snorted loudly, "_SPARKLES_? Are you kidding me?" She and Rouge both laughed.

Amy's frown deepened at the girls' laughter. None of them noticed, but Walker winced a bit, closing his eyes against the wall.

Wave, still laughing, continued walking. "I'll bring the car around. You two wait here."

Amy sighed, and she stepped nervously back over to Walker. He opened his eyes, faking a smile as she approached. Amy tried to return the smile but found that she couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Um... Wave's car doesn't have room for another passenger..."

The orange echidna shook his head. "You didn't have to ask... I've got a ride already. I'm going with..." He looked thoughtful for a moment but then easily said, "Dread. And, my sister."

"Oh, that's good," she said as she heard Rouge and Wave shouting for her from the car. "Uh, I'll see you... In class, okay?"

"Yeah," he answered, watching her join the other two girls in the car. He reached into his pocket, taking out his cell phone and dialing a number... "...Hey, Kim. Um, I know I told you that Dread and I were gonna be busy after school, but... Do you want to go shopping with us in, like, half an hour...?...Well, I kinda told someone that you were going to be with us..." The orange echidna deadpanned at his sister's response. "_No_, I'm _not_ trying to set you up on a date... Gah... Just... You're coming with us, okay? Bye." He paused, hearing her last words. "Yeah, hate you, too. Bye."

He looked up at the sky. Well, there was nothing wrong with lying to your sister when it was going to help her out, right?

* * *

Oh, don't you love sibling relationships?


	4. A Joker in the Deck

Now, I personally am very proud of myself for the time it took me to write this. My longest chapter yet... In about the shortest time so far. Hahaha. But, don't expect another update for a week or so, since I've got exams, and I'll be lucky if I can get much writing time in... This Saturday looks like a promising day for writing, though!

Thanks so much to my reviewers! Hope to hear from you all!

My Story Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any of the canon Sonic characters used and/or mentioned in this story (including but not limited to Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Silver, Blaze, Wave, Jet, Cream, Vector, Charmy, and Dr. Eggman). Nor do I own the inspiration from some of the other characters taken from other games/movies (such as Ganondorf Dragmire who belongs to the Zelda franchise, and Queen Grimhilde who belongs to Disney). Nor, again, do I own any objects or names that are associated with the Sonic universe, any other game or movie or tv show's universe, or any business/corporation names. In addition, the celebrity personas illustrated in the story mean no harm and are not meant to be offensive in any way.

Chapter Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to "We R Who We R" by Ke$ha. I do not own the lyrics to "Bleed it Out" by Linkin Park. I do not own the lyrics to "Firework" by Katy Perry. I do not own Dr. Crane from the Batman series.

And, before you ask, no, Metropolis does not have speed limits - only... speed _suggestions._ Hahaha...

* * *

**4. A Joker in the Deck**

"_Hot and dangerous, if you're one of us then roll with us, 'cuz we make the hipsters fall in love when we got our hot pants on enough, and, yes, of course we does - we runnin' this town just like a club, and, no, you don't wanna mess with us - got Jesus on my necklace-ace-ace..._"

The black- and red-furred hedgehog took a deep breath, trying to focus all of his thoughts on the city outside his window. Or, on that bug on the window... Or, on that cloud... Anywhere but the blaring stereo and the singing girls in the car with him. _Note to self: next time, walk to the mall. Never allow yourself to be caught in a car full of teenage girls. Never._

"Come on, Shadow - sing! - _Got that glitter on my eyes, stockings ripped all up the side..._"

He didn't even spare Rouge a glance, saying, as politely as he possibly could, "Not a chance in Hell." Of course, Rouge only laughed at his response before turning up the stereo's volume even more. She and Amy automatically raised their voices to match the sound system.

The miserable, somber hedgehog, unable to focus on his window any longer, decided to delve further into his thoughts and wonder to himself what on Mobius had possibly possessed him to accept an invitation to go shopping with three teenage girls - especially when he already knew that any invitation from Rouge signaled danger... He did need the school supplies, but... Shadow sat up straight, leaning forward slightly to glance at the speedometer over Wave's shoulder. _250... I could probably survive a jump out of the car at 250 km an hour... _He ran the calculation in his head... _That's only about...150-something miles an hour... _He leaned back again as Wave swerved through the cars on the highway that were actually going the 120 km/h speed suggestion. Shadow sighed, quite sure that the car ride to the mall was never going to end.

* * *

Knuckles yawned, stirring from his sleep as the knocking at the door persisted. He looked at the clock. _4:37._ He groaned, forcing himself to stand up to answer the door, "WHAT?"

A slightly-surprised Taylor the Swift was standing at the door with her arm raised as if to knock again. She quickly put her arm down, smiling slightly.

Knuckles cleared his throat. "Ahem... What?"

She laughed, "Um, well, we were all going to go school supply shopping, and I thought you might want to come. Lephart's driving."

"...Supply shopping?"

"Yeah, you know, for pencils and notebooks and stuff... You're taking Fish this year, right? You need to get a notebook for Music Journals and a few books off the reading list, probably. Plus, whatever other classes you're taking..."

Knuckles frowned. He didn't do school. He didn't do shopping. He _especially _didn't do shopping _for _school. _Grrr... I don't even know if I have any money. _"...Fine... What time?"

"We're leaving in about twenty minutes, I think." She smiled warmly.

"Okay...?" Knuckles uncomfortably continued to stand in the doorway, wondering why Taylor was still there.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to the echidna standing there uncomfortably, the swift again spoke up, asking, "Do you know where Amy is?"

The echidna shook his head. "No. Only had first period with her."

Taylor nodded. "Alright... Do you think she has a ride?"

Knuckles shrugged. "She's got a car."

"Okay... Well, thanks. See you in a few minutes!" The swift waved, and Knuckles took that as his cue to shut the door. He walked over to his bedside table, opening the top drawer and taking out some of the rings he'd discovered while walking campus.

* * *

"See, Espio? That's what roommates are for! You need a ride to the mall - I can _get_ you a ride to the mall!" Walker patted the chameleon on the shoulder, but Espio's face remained stoic.

"...Very well." The chameleon took a step forward, maintaining his unimpressed expression despite the fact that he was looking at what could quite possibly be the most beautiful car he had ever seen.

"So... Whaddaya think..?" Walker grinned, gesturing toward the car.

"Hm." The chameleon took a short breath before stating flatly, "Pulchritudinous."

Walker withdrew his hand, blinking. "...? Huh?"

"Thanks," came a voice from Espio's right. The chameleon turned his head to see the tall, ebony porcupine the voice belonged to. Dread strode to the front of his car, stroking the sleek, fluorescent-green hood fondly. "It's my favorite."

Espio tilted his head slightly. "Favorite? ...You have more than one car?"

Dread smirked, taking out his keys. "I've got... a few." He unlocked the car doors with a click of a button.

"Hm." Espio eyed the perfectly-polished car for a moment more before saying, "It is... impressive. ..The finish is quite... anomalous."

"Yeah. It's custom. Bullet-proof, flame-resistant, and capable of underwater travel," the porcupine said, then paused for a moment. "-though it's not recommended." Espio raised an eyebrow, wondering why on Mobius the porcupine needed those precautions... The chameleon shook his head as Dread turned to face Walker. "Hey, Walker, where's your sister?"

Walker shrugged. "I'm not sure... I told her to be here soon..." He moved to stand in front of Espio, brushing a bit of imaginary dust from the chameleon's shoulder. "Can you relax a bit? Don't stand up so straight..."

"Walker." Dread rolled his eyes. "Your sister..."

"Doesn't know what's good for her," Walker finished proudly. "I'm just helping a little..."

Dread sighed but smiled at the orange echidna's antics. "She's gonna_ kill you_..."

"Eh." the echidna commenced trying to straighten out the wrinkles on Espio's sleeves. "Nothing she hasn't done before. _Besides_, she'll like Espio!"

The chameleon slowly blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, right..." Walker finally gave up, deciding that the wrinkles would add a 'mysterious' flair, and he explained, "This is another one of those things roommates do for each other, Esp!"

"...You have... set me up on a date with your sister? ...I do not know your sister, Walker. I barely know you."

"Oh, come on! Even after I told you my whole life story last night?"

The chameleon's voice turned uncharacteristically sarcastic. "Ah, yes. The autobiography that kept me awake until the youthful hours of the morning..."

Walker, ignoring Espio's protests, turned to Dread. "Dreads, do you have any hair gel?"

The porcupine crossed his arms, leaning against his car. "No. But, I can filch some from the kid across the hallway. Blue bastard spent an hour and a half working on his spikes this morning."

Walker cast a glare in the porcupine's direction, saying, "Hey! I spend at least that fixing my spines every morning..."

"Yeah, but _your _hair actually looks decent." Dread flinched upon receiving an offended look from Walker. "I mean, your hair actually looks good." Another glare. "Great?" Deciding he wasn't going to find the right word anytime soon, Dread stood up straight, sighing. "So... hair gel?"

Espio listened to them, dumbfounded: he didn't even have hair. How could he possibly need hair gel?

After a moment of thought, Walker shook his head, changing his mind about the gel. "No, we don't have time. She'll be here any secon-..."

"Looking for me?" Walker and Espio both turned to see the girl approaching them. Her hair was coffee-brown, and she was wearing a pair of heavily-distressed skinny jeans and a black t-shirt with the words "If they don't have chocolate in heaven, I ain't going" written in white block letters. On her right wrist was a black leather band with the phrase "Daughter of Echidna" etched onto the outside, and on her left wrist was a series of black bangles in all shapes and sizes. She wore no makeup except for a bit of mascara, and under her eyes were very prominent, purplish, dark circles that gave her a tired, bored-with-life appearance. Her muzzle was prominently echidnian; Espio recognized her from English class as Kimaera, Walker's sister. She nodded to Walker and Dread in greeting. "Walk. Dread." She then glanced carelessly at Espio. "Guy I don't know."

Walker put on a bright smile, introducing the silent Espio with a theatrical wave of his hand. "This is Espio, Kim!... _He_ shall be accompanying us to the mall!"

Kim looked at her brother with a dull expression. "Really, Walk? ...'Shall'? 'Accompanying'?"

Unfazed, Walker responded, "Hey! Those are perfectly good words!" Then, deciding that he needed a second opinion to convince her, he added confidently, "Right, Dreads?"

"Don't bring me into this."

Kim glared at her brother triumphantly. "Hear that? Even Dread agrees with me this time!"

Dread groaned, motioning for Espio to get into the car. "They're gonna bring me into it..."

Deciding that there would be no real danger to anyone's life in the sibling-fight, Espio moved around to the other side of the car and opened the door, getting in the backseat. As it would happen, however, the car was _not _soundproof... And, despite the tinted windows that no one could see _in_, the chameleon could see perfectly well what was going on outside the car.

"Really, Walk? Again! I _told_ you last time to stop this! And, the time before that! And, the time before that! AND, the twenty-three times before that...!"

"Twenty-four, actually. Remember Patrick?"

"**WALKER!**"

"Sorry, sorry - not helping my case, huh?"

Kim looked like she was about ready to strangle her brother, but before she could get her hands around his neck, Dread stepped between them. The porcupine said something in a low voice that Espio couldn't quite hear, and, after a few moments more of Kim leering balefully at her brother, she approached the car, and opened the door opposite of Espio's door, getting into the backseat next to him. As she climbed into the car, she made a specific point not to look at the fuchsia chameleon.

Walker hopped into the passenger's seat, face expressionless, though Espio was fairly certain he'd just won the siblings' argument. Dread took the driver's seat, putting the car's key into the ignition to start it up. Instantly, the engine revved up, and a song on stereo played out, mid-chorus.

_I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away,_

_I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away,_

_Just to throw it away, just to throw-_

Walker leaned forward, pressing a button on the controls to switch to the radio. Dread made no comment as he backed the car easily out of its parking place and drove toward the entrance. Kim just stared at the black leather interior of the car as Walker settled on a station and leaned back in his seat, singing along, "_You don't have to feel like a waste of space_, _you're original, cannot be replaced... If you only knew what the future holds, after a hurricane comes a rainbow..._" Walker's voice didn't exactly match Kitty Perry's on the radio, but it flowed in a sort of harmony with the song.

Espio glanced at Kim, half-expecting her to make some comment about her brother singing, but her face was unreadable, all traces of animosity gone from it. The chameleon relaxed a bit and examined the interior of the car, taking in the appearance of the leather, the clean floor, the variously colored and structured lights that were built into the ceiling of the car, all the strange buttons that were on each door...

* * *

"You're sure that's all you need, Sonic?" Tails' voice asked through the phone.

Sonic nodded as if Tails could see him then said, "Yeah, buddy. Just the notebook and books and stuff..." He then leaned down to re-lace up his left shoe. "Oh, and if you'll run by the SOAP store... I've only got about five pairs of shoes left, so just tell them to order a few more for me..."

"Alright, Sonic..." Tails paused on the other end of the line to write everything down, then he asked, "So, how's everyone doing after a day of school?"

"Pretty good, I guess." The blue hedgehog laughed. "You shoulda seen Knux in English!"

"He didn't do the summer reading?"

"Failed the test miserably!"

"How do you think you did?"

"I dunno. B, maybe? Not too bad." Sonic finished lacing up his shoe and grabbed his navy sweatshirt from his bed. "Alright, buddy, I'm gonna letcha go, then. See ya later!"

"Alright. Bye, Sonic! Say hi to Amy and Knuckles for me!"

"Sure thing." Sonic took the phone away from his hear, hanging up. He pocketed the device and pulled the sweatshirt on over his head before going for the door and heading down the hallway. As his luck would have it, though, his roommate was heading _up_ the hallway at the same time. Sonic and Jet both stopped an instant from running into each other.

Jet crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Sonic. "Where do ya think _you're_ going?"

"Out for a run." The hedgehog took a sidestep around the green hawk.

"Don't you need to go shopping for _supplies_?" Jet sneered at the word.

"Don't you?"

"Nah, I've got people for that."

Sonic rolled his eyes, not in the mood to deal with Jet. He was ready to run. "Whatever, Jet. See ya. Don't wait up for me!" He flashed to the door, taking a right and heading toward the school's track.

* * *

The yellow car pulled to a stop as Wave shifted gears, parking it smoothly. The second the car halted, Shadow pushed open the door, freeing himself from the girly, pop music prison. He take a deep breath, inhaling the stale city air that greatly contrasted with Wave's lemon-scented car air freshener.

Amy, Wave, and Rouge all filed out of the car after Shadow, and Wave clicked a button on her car remote, locking the car doors. Amy fumbled through her purse, checking her phone for any text messages or missed calls. Rouge smirked at Shadow's relief of being out of the car. As the group started for the mall entrance, Shadow casually asked, "So, where, exactly, are you girls planning on going?"

Wave shrugged. "The Office Burrow for supplies... Then I'm heading to EX-G to see if they got in my order of wax for my board... Then wherever."

Rouge nodded. "Anywhere there's a shiny gem calling my name..."

Amy put away her phone then elbowed Rouge. "I swear, Rouge, if you get us kicked out of the mall for trying to steal something..." She sighed, trailing off. Then she answered Shadow's question, "Just The Office Burrow... Then I need to go check in Incense to see if they got in that new book... Why are you asking, Shadow?"

"So that I can make my mental list of places not to go." With that, the hedgehog quickly went for the doors and was out of sight before the girls stepped into the mall.

Amy just shook her head for a moment; then she giggled. "Poor Shadow."

Rouge laughed as well, and they started toward the nearby large store that specialized in office and school supplies. "Let's just get this over with so we can go _real _shopping."

* * *

Knuckles dragged himself down the stairs to the common room where most of his dorm family was waiting. His roommate, the buck Lephart, looked up when he heard footsteps. Lephart put down his art magazine, standing up. "Are we ready to go, then?"

Taylor nodded, and the tigress Claws grabbed her purse, saying, "Hang on, I'll text Teeth and tell her to meet us at the van."

The two blonds, the doe Scarlet and the dog Alexander, stood up in unison. Scarlet grabbed her purse, and Alexander put on his grey hoodie. Silver, who was standing against the back wall of the room, already had on his blue hoodie and looked as though he had been ready to leave for quite a while.

Knuckles followed everyone outside, sticking close to Silver and Taylor. The walk to the parking lot wasn't long, and Claws' twin sister, Teeth, was waiting by the big VW van that belonged to Lephart. The van was painted in a whimsical style, with green covering most of it and blue around the edges. Large orange flower-like designs were scattered all over the design. Lephart motioned to the car, saying jokingly, "All aboard The Mystery Machine..."

* * *

Espio had truly wanted only to go to the school supply shop and leave, but, unfortunately, his chivalrous nature prevented him from making Kim go shopping by herself... Of course, just because he was forced by code to be polite, that did not mean that she was making an effort herself.

"You know, you don't really look like a ninja," she said matter-of-factly.

Espio's face remained emotionless. "I wasn't aware that ninjas had a 'look'."

"Well, yeah. They're supposed to be cool. And dress in all black."

"So, a white shirt instantly disqualifies me from the title of ninja?"

"No. But, all I'm saying is... If you're a chameleon, why do you _choose_ to be pink?"

Espio clenched his jaw. "I... am purple."

"Pink."

"I am purple."

"Pink."

He glanced at her, quite annoyed. She was almost as old as he was, but she was acting just like Charmy. "I. am. pur. ple." He enunciated every syllable clearly.

"Well, that's the pinkest purple I've ever seen."

Needless to say, they found Walker and Dread close by in the next store, and Espio left the brunette with them, choosing to go shopping for the books he needed.

* * *

"Alright... That, that, that... And, I'm done," Rouge said, smiling at the poor salesman who was unfortunate enough to have offered her his help. He was carrying five spiral notebooks, three textbooks, two binders, a pile of folders, and a few boxes of assorted pens, pencils, and highlighters. Rouge turned to smile at her two friends who were gathering their own things like normal shoppers. "If you girls need me, I'll be at 24 Carats..." Amy shot the bat a warning glare, but Rouge only happily skipped to the cash register. The salesman trudged after her.

Amy shook her head, turning back to the shelf of notebooks. She reached up, grabbing one with a hot pink cover that was decorated in white and baby-pink hearts. There were two others with the same design in different colors, so she grabbed those as well. She then turned to Wave and said, "Alright, I'm heading to the cash register..."

"Whatever."

Amy sighed and walked away, telling herself that Wave wasn't purposely rude: it was just how she naturally spoke...

* * *

Shadow had circled the interior of the mall about four times before any place caught his eye. Sure, some places had alright names - like The Scissor Sisters, which he'd hoped was a sort of unconventional weapons shop founded by a couple of homicidal sisters who'd decided to run with scissors... But, _nooo_, it was just a salon.

As the black and red hedgehog rounded one of the corners of the mall, though, he noticed again the blood-red letters above a small shop that read "Judas' Cradle". On display in the front window was what looked like some sort of medieval torture device... _Well, it isn't as though I don't have the time... _ He stared at the sign for a few more seconds before deciding just to go in, to see what it was...

The smell of leather and steel, mixed together violently, hit him as he walked through the entrance. A heavily-tattooed salesgirl behind the counter by the door looked up as he walked in. She said, "Welcome to Judas' Cradle." Then she returned to her work, apparently etching something into a leather band.

Shadow looked around. The middle of the shop was covered in racks of clothing that were almost universally black: black pants, black gloves, black t-shirts, black corsets, black dresses... On the right wall various colors and designs of stockings, leggings, and socks were hung. The left wall was covered in leather belts, bracelets, armbands, and chokers, which Shadow assumed all could be customized with words or designs etched into them by a salesperson... But, the back wall was what demanded the most attention: all sorts of accessories with studs and steel spikes were hanging on the wall, gleaming in the light...

Shadow's ears twitched slightly as he heard a vaguely familiar voice from the other side of the shop say loudly, "Do you really need _more_ things with spikes on them?" It was a girl's voice, but it didn't belong to any of the girls he knew... Still, it was somehow familiar... He looked in the direction of the voice, but instead of seeing the speaker, he saw the purple- and green-tipped quills of his roommate Dread. The porcupine was standing at the base of the back wall, apparently intent on one of the spiked accessories.

Another voice that wasn't Dread's but that was a guy's and was somewhat familiar answered the first, "Leave him alone, Kim."

"But, I'm hungry!," whined the first voice.

Shadow smirked, approaching his roommate. But, before he could do or say anything, Dread had already taken whatever it was he'd been looking at off the wall, and the porcupine turned around. Shadow stopped, and Dread seemed to look right through him for a moment before he actually noticed the hedgehog. "Shadow?" Two echidnas were instantly looking over Dread's shoulder to see the newcomer. Shadow recognized them from English as the two with the weird last name. Dread walked over to Shadow, still holding the spiked wristband he'd taken from the wall, and he said, "Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you here."

"I was actually just checking the place out..." Shadow glanced at the spiked band in Dread's hand and added, "And, hiding from the girls who drove me here." Dread laughed, but before he could respond, the brunette echidna stepped forward, holding her brother by the arm.

"Hey, Dread?," She asked, trying to get his attention. The porcupine turned to look at her, so she continued, "I'm still hungry... Can Walker and I go to the food court if we _promise_ to stay together?" Shadow raised an eyebrow at the question then looked at Dread.

Dread stiffened up for a moment, before slowly nodding. "...Just get something fast, then."

"Will do," the girl said, pulling her brother toward the exit of the store.

Dread watched them leave and shouted after them, "If I don't hear from you in the next four minutes and thirty-five seconds, I'm calling the cops to hunt you down!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," came the chorused reply from both of the echidnas.

Shadow gave the porcupine a strange look. "Four minutes and thirty-five seconds?"

Dread nodded. "It's about the time it would take someone to knock them both out and drag one of their bodies to a car."

Shadow couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped from himself. "That's assuming they'd want to kidnap them instead of killing them."

Dread laughed a bit as well, though his laugh was much more hollow, empty of amusement. "If anyone did anything to Walker or Kim, it would be the last thing he, or she, ever did." Ah, implied violence... Shadow had known there was something he liked about his roommate.

* * *

Wave wasn't entirely sure why she was back in the office store. She'd already gotten school supplies for herself and for Jet, and she'd gone to EX-G Racing to pick up her board wax... But, she was back at The Office Burrow again... Lost in the electronics section. Staring up at the newest computer model, she sighed. Then she glanced at her watch; it was almost time for her to meet the other girls at the food court. She took a step back to turn toward the exit, but instead she ran into something - or someone. Her first natural instinct was to stop herself from falling, which she managed to do quickly. And, then her second instinct was to shout, "Hey, watch where you're going!" She turned to face whoever she'd run into, and she was faced with the chameleon she'd seen hanging around Sonic and the others.

"My apologies," he said quickly, looking genuinely sorry. She almost felt bad; she was pretty sure the collision was her fault. But, hey, who was she to take the blame?

"Yeah? Just do everyone a favor and don't let it happen again." She smoothed out her feathers and straightened the bandanna on her head before managing to put on a glare and facing the chameleon. He was staring at her. "What?"

"You're one of the Babylon Rogues..."

"Hmph. I prefer Wave... And, you're one of those detectives. The Chaotix."

"Espio the Chameleon." He bowed slightly.

She smiled, amused for a moment, but then she remembered where she was supposed to be. "Well... Espio the Chameleon... Watch where you're going from now on." She turned toward the exit and was gone in an instant, realizing that she didn't have much time before she was supposed to meet the others.

* * *

"FIVE RINGS FOR A _PENCIL_? THAT'S A RIP-OFF!"

"No, sir. That's _business_."

Knuckles looked like he was about ready to jump over the counter and strangle the man at the cash register, so Silver calmly pulled the echidna away. After deciding that he was a safe distance from the sales counter, Silver said, "Wait here. Don't move, Knuckles."

So, naturally, as soon as Silver was out of sight, Knuckles was on his way to the register again. Fortunately for the clerk, someone else had heard Silver's orders and decided it would be in everyone's best interest if Knuckles _did not_ beat anyone up. Knuckles tripped over something he couldn't see, and he landed flat on his face. He growled, turning to see what had tripped him; Espio was watching him with a bemused expression. The echidna groaned, "But, he's asking for it!"

The chameleon shook his head. "Hn. The moment that man comes over here and verbally asks you for a fight, I will let you go."

Slowly, Knuckles stood up, dusting off his hands and arms. "How'd you even get here?"

"Apparently, your distant relatives have a friend who has a car that can drive me here if and only if I spend time with my roommate's sister."

"...What?"

"The two echidnas. Are friends with Dread Lox. Who owns a car. And, I was given a ride here apparently in exchange for my spending time with the girl. Kimaera."

"Oh..." Knuckles nodded then looked around. "...Where is she?"

"...I am not quite certain."

"You gonna walk back to school?"

The chameleon didn't respond as Silver returned with a shopping basket. The hedgehog smiled upon seeing Espio, "Hey, Espio!" The lizard nodded in response, and Silver turned to Knuckles. "Alright, you just put everything you're getting in here, give me the rings, and I'll check out."

"But-"

The grey-white hedgehog sighed. "I don't like your bargaining tactics, Knuckles."

* * *

"So, what do you want to eat?," Wave questioned, looking around the food court.

Rouge admired her nails, bored. "What are my options?"

"Can you not _read_?"

"Not if I'm not looking at the signs." The bat continued to stare at her nails as if entranced.

Wave narrowed her eyes.

Amy, deciding she wasn't in the mood for an infamous Wave and Rouge argument, glanced over at the small snack shop nestled into the corner of the food court, and she said, "I'm not really hungry, guys... I'll just go grab a snack." Of course, neither the swallow nor the bat acknowledged the comment. Amy sighed, walking by herself over to the snack shop.

There weren't many people in the place: a cashier, one or two shoppers, and Amy. But, as she looked to the back wall, she noticed that one of the shoppers was very familiar. She stepped silently over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, Walker."

Walker jumped instantly, nearly hitting his head on the back wall. "I-I wasn'-" He took a few deep breaths and saw Amy standing over him. A relieved look crossed his face. "...Oh... For a second there, I thought you were Dread..." He straightened up, shaking his head a few times as if to clear it. "Why are you talking to me, Amy?"

"Excuse me?" She tilted her head, giving the orange echidna a questioning look.

"Your friends obviously don't like me, so... Why do you go out of your way to be nice to me?"

"Well... I don't know, really. You seem like a good person." Amy smiled. "You kinda remind me of my friend Knuckles... Except... Funnier and nicer..." She looked up at Walker's face and giggled.

The orange echidna blinked at her laughter. "What?"

"Well, and, of course, he doesn't wear eyeliner..."

Walker slowly smiled as well. "Probably a good thing. He couldn't pull it off like I do."

They both laughed for a few moments before Amy spoke again, "You know... He told us that he was the only one of his kind left. So, we were all kinda surprised to see you and your sister - well, not completely surprised, since we all know Knuckles isn't that great with math, but..."

Walker's smile faded slightly. "...Well, we're not exactly 'of his kind'..."

"Hm?" She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean...?"

Before Amy could receive an answer, Walker's phone beeped. He quickly took it out of his pocket to check his texts. He read the message and sighed.

"What is it?," Amy asked.

"Dread," he answered, pocketing his phone again. "He says something happened over by the entrance. Someone passed out or something. Someone else called the paramedics." He looked out, toward the food court area. "I've gotta find my sister." He pulled a couple of water bottles out of the large refrigerator that was built into the wall, and he waved at Amy.

The pink hedgehog returned the wave. "Bye, Walker!"

"See ya," he said, quickly paying the cashier for the water and then disappearing into the mall crowd.

Amy looked around the small shop for a few minutes, but, after deciding that the entire place was filled with junk food and that she wasn't going to find anything halfway healthy, she settled on a bag of chips and a bottle of water. She walked over to the cashier, setting the chips and water bottle on the counter. The cashier rang up the items and took the rings Amy'd given him before he asked, "Planning on leaving soon?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah... Right after my friends and I eat, we're leaving, I think."

"Where'd you park? Over by the front entrance?"

"Yeah... I think."

"Good luck getting out, then. I hear they're not letting anyone out of the parking lot."

The pink hedgehog tilted her head, curious. "Why?"

The cashier shrugged. "We all just got some message about it. Some guy's unconscious by the entrance."

Amy frowned, thanked the cashier, and left to look for Wave and Rouge. They were both sitting at a small table. Rouge had just sat down at the table, apparently, because she was only just taking the first bite of her sandwich when Amy sat down next to her. Wave was almost finished with her vegetable stir-fry from the Japanese restaurant counter. Rouge leaned back in her chair, asking happily, "Don't you just love the mall? It's the only place you can get food from all around the world in one convenient location."

Wave rolled her eyes. "Hmph. Yeah. If you can stand mall-people."

The table returned to silence when Rouge focused herself on finishing her sandwich, so, after a moment, Amy said, "Is it true that there's someone passed out by the front entrance?"

Wave glanced over at her. "What? Doubt it. If something like that really happened, do you think all these loud-mouthed people would still be standing around here acting like nothing's happening."

Rouge shrugged and took a sip of her drink before saying, "Well, it's not like this city doesn't have these things happen everyday. It's a big city. If people were bothered by _everything_, we'd be in trouble." She stood up, taking her tray to the trash can. Wave did the same, and Amy picked up her things, following the two of them.

They made their way out of the food court, back into the main corridor, and they walked toward the entrance. They were about halfway there when they noticed that there were significantly fewer people in the mall than before... And, just ahead, there was what looked like a mob gathering. Flashing red, blue, and white lights could be seen through the glass entrance doors, and a team of paramedics was pushing its way through the crowd of bystanders. The girls stopped walking, watching from where they stood as the paramedics disappeared into the crowd, and all the eyes of the bystanders went toward the crowd's center. About thirty seconds passed before one of the paramedics stood up and signaled for the police to move the crowd. Most of the crowd moved without a fight, too distraught and shocked from the sudden experience they'd been drawn into. The girls watched the paramedics load the collapsed man onto the gurney - the body complied to their movements far too easily.

Amy, hardly able to move, could only stare in horror as Wave muttered, "He's dead..."

When the parking lot was finally opened for cars to leave, Shadow met them at the car. The ride back to MUCA was silent.

* * *

Amy took a drink of her orange juice in the breakfast hall. Most of the table was silent except for Wave who was explaining the happenings of the previous night to those who hadn't witnessed it - Jet and Sonic, mainly. They both listened quietly until the end. Then, after a moment, Sonic asked, "How old was he?"

"I don't know," Wave answered. "Not old. Maybe thirties. We didn't get a good look. But, not very old."

Sonic shook his head. "People don't just drop dead of natural causes while walking around the mall."

Wave shrugged. "My thoughts, too. But, we're no detectives."

Sonic looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Maybe _we're_ not, but..." He looked across the table as if expecting to see someone. "Wait... Where's Espio?"

Amy blinked quickly, putting down her cup of orange juice and looking around the table. When she realized that the chameleon actually wasn't there, her immediate instinct was to turn around and search the tables for Walker. She spotted him instantly - at his usual table. Amy stood up without a word to her table and started toward Walker. Sonic looked up at her departure, surprised. "Amy?"

The pink hedgehog didn't stop until she was standing over Walker. The orange echidna wasn't facing her, but Dread had watched her approach since she'd stood. The porcupine was the one to acknowledge her with a quiet, "I see not everyone got up to fix hair at four o' clock this morning."

Amy wasn't awake enough to take the proper offense at his remark, though, so she just answered, "Good morning to you, too... Walker, where's Espio?"

The orange echidna shrugged, turning to look at her. "In bed still, I guess. He doesn't have a first period most mornings, I don't think."

She nodded. "Alright... Thanks." Having no wish to deal with more smart comments from Dread, she turned and walked back to her own table.

As soon as the pink hedgehog sat down, Wave pinned her with a scathing look. "Why are you always talking to Sparkles?"

"Who?," Sonic asked.

Jet translated for the blue hedgehog, "That orange guy over there."

"Oh." Sonic glanced over at Walker's table and scowled. "Why are you talking to_ them _at all?"

Amy frowned deeply. "What do you have against them?"

"Well, first of all, The Big Fail over there - yeah, he's nothing but a jerk."

Shadow, who had previously been quiet, corrected the Blue Blur, "It's called honesty, Faker. A concept that's still new to you, I'm sure."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Fine. What about Walker?"

" 'What about' him? Amy, just look at him!"

"Sonic, that's not fair! You can't dislike him just for the way he dresses! He's a nice guy!" She picked up her tray, leaving the table. Shadow stood up after her, following. The rest of the table was left in an awkward silence.

Silver watched Amy and Shadow leave before he looked over at Walker's table and said, "...That was kinda harsh, Sonic... Maybe you should apologize..."

The blue hedgehog appeared to consider it before he shook his head, returning to his food. "Amy'll get over it. Besides, I'm supposed to go out and help the coaches set up the field for the sports demonstration. See you guys later!" He picked up his own tray and rushed off.

Rouge crossed her arms. "That boy had better watch his back."

* * *

Amy followed Rouge and Wave into the fourth period classroom. They arrived only a minute or two before the bell, so most of the seats were already taken. Rouge and Wave managed to find two seats next to each other, though. And, Amy found an empty seat near Silver and Espio. She didn't recognize most of the class: she guessed they were upperclassmen. A few were dressed in sports jerseys, and a few others were in cheer-leading uniforms. The uniforms stood out greatly among the normal, average outfits of the rest of the class - well, of course, none of the uniforms stood out half as much as Walker's leather, diamond-studded jacket, but Amy had almost learned to ignore his fashions.

Amy heard the bell ring, and most of the class' chattering died as they awaited the arrival of their teacher.

"Alright, class, if you will settle down," came a gentle voice from the doorway. The class turned to watch as a tall, remarkably thin human man entered the classroom, closing the door behind himself. He had bright, auburn-red hair and pale skin; a pair of spectacles sat crookedly on his nose. He stepped toward the center of the room in an awkward fashion, his long legs apparently hindering normal movement.

Wave snickered maliciously, whispering, "He looks like he's trying to walk on stilts." Her comment drew cruel laughter from a few of the cheerleaders nearby who had been thinking something similar.

Oblivious, the man withdrew the stylus that belonged to the classroom's large, touch-screen board, and he wrote, in quick, sloppy strokes, the words "Dr. Crane, Psychology I."

Then man turned to the class. "I am Dr. Crane, and I will be your professor of psychology this year..." His eyes passed over the section of laughing girls, and he took a deep breath before loping across the classroom to his desk and picking up his attendance book. "I do hope that none of you are too _terribly _comfortable..." He gestured to the back wall of the classroom. "Pick up your things and wait for me to assign you a seat..."

A groan filled the classroom, and a single hand shot into the air. "Objection, Professor!"

Amy and Silver both turned to look at the girl who'd spoken up. She was one of the girls Amy had dubbed as a cheerleader. Her hair was a golden blonde color, and she looked like some form of wildcat. Dr. Crane stared at her with a blank expression and asked, "And, you are...?"

The other cheerleaders, the girl's posse, gasped in unison, apparently appalled that their teacher didn't already know the girl's name. The girl herself had an offended expression when she answered, "Zoe Pelandi. Head cheerleader? ..My father is the owner of Cougar Enterprises!"

"Well, Ms. Cougar, after thorough deliberation by the judge, your objection has been overruled." He turned away as Zoe's posse gasped again. "Now, pick up your things..."

Amy gathered her books and purse, standing up to join the growing number of her classmates at the back wall. She waited there patiently with Silver while the teacher paced the classroom, verbally assigning seats.

Amy was one of the first names to be called: she took a desk in the back of the room behind Alexander, a guy who belonged to her dorm. Blaze was seated next to Amy, and then the teacher called for an "Axe" to sit in the desk behind Amy. Walker silently took that spot.

On the other side of the classroom, Silver took the desk behind Rouge, and one of the various cheerleaders was given the desk in front of the bat. Wave was placed in the very last row of desks, and Zoe was the only one anywhere near her.

Apparently satisfied with the arrangement, Dr. Crane returned to the front of the classroom. "Take out your books..."

Zoe's hand shot into the air. "We're doing _**work**_ on the first day?"

"If it truly strains your brain cells to read so much that you consider reading as work, then, yes, we are working today."

"But-!"

"Detention, Ms. Pelandi."

A smug look crossed the cougar's face. "I have to cheer at the 3.6. demonstration game today. I'm excused from all other school activities - even class. And, especially stupid, unfair punishments like detention from _you_."

The freshmen of the class were split: half watched Zoe in disbelief, half watched the teacher to see what he would do. The sophomores and upperclassmen, however, neatly avoided looking at either. Amy's eyes were glued to her teacher; Amy caught the angry quivering of his lip and the violent clenching of his fist over his attendance book. But, he replied to the cougar in a calm, level voice, "Then you'll have to work out a date and get back to me on that."

"Sure thing," she said, smiling confidently. Her voice revealed no intention of actually fulfilling his suggestion.

Dr. Crane returned his attention to the board and wrote out, "Pages 1-21. Quiz next class." Everyone but the cheerleaders - who were following Zoe's example - got out his or her book, taking note of the pages. Dr. Crane went to his desk and let his focus leave the class, transferring it to his computer.

Amy just took note of the pages and put her book away. She then poked Alexander in the back with her pencil's eraser. The blond dog turned his head to look at her, an annoyed look on his face. "What?"

Amy, realizing that he was actually focused on his schoolwork, shook her head apologetically and said, "Sorry. Never mind." She glanced over at Blaze only to find that the cat was also intent on the textbook. But, a light, rhythmic tapping on the desk behind Amy told the pink hedgehog that Walker was open to conversation about _anything_ that didn't relate to the pages he was supposed to be reading. Amy smiled, turning around in her desk. "Hey - Walker?"

The echidna's light blue eyes were dull. Beneath them were the beginnings of a couple of dark circles, signaling a lack of sleep. Walker continued to tap the tip of his pencil on the desk for a few seconds before Amy was talking to him. "..What?"

Amy tilted her head. "Are you okay? You look tired..."

Walker nodded, feigning a smile. "Just... Didn't get enough sleep. I'm fine..." He rested his head in the palm of his hand.

Amy watched him, still somewhat worried, but she decided that she hadn't known him long enough to pry too much - she'd have to wait the standard two and a half days. So, she said nothing else on the subject of his well-being, instead asking, "Who's that girl? Do you know?" She made no indication of which girl she was talking about, but Walker caught on quickly.

He lowered his voice. "Zoe? She's head cheerleader. A junior. Her dad owns the business she mentioned before... People don't really mess with her - not even the teachers." Walker's eyes flitted across the room then down to his desk, and he pretended to take notes while Dr. Crane looked up for a moment. As soon as the teacher turned away again, Walker whispered, "But, Dread just calls her the Queen of Whores."

"To her face?" Amy's voice was filled with disbelief.

Walker shrugged. "Probably. She embraces the name - whole school does. It was already around before she ever came here... Whole school's like a deck of cards."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Walker yawned then shook his head as if he was trying to keep himself awake. "Well, you see, there are four suits: the two red suits each led by a queen and the two black suits each led by a king. Someone some time ago decided that everyone in the school could fit into one of these four suits. And, the school thought it was a good idea - apparently, if gave 'a sense of belonging' to everyone. So, two kings and two queens were chosen of each card suit: hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. And, just before the kings or queens would graduate, they would pass down their title to another promising student.

"Of course, it didn't take long before the student body had renamed the suits in the way that it saw fit. And, so, the suits were secretly renamed by all the students. Now, they're like social barriers, basically: whores, dollies, stones, and cards."

Amy flinched at the names of the suits. "...The students named themselves those...? But, they're all so offensive..."

Walker nodded. "Well, the rival suits named each other. And, the names stuck. The school still calls them by the card deck titles, but no one else does."

"...So, everyone's put into one of the suits?"

"Yeah. They wait a few weeks to monitor the freshman, and then they group us into the suits."

Amy's eyes scanned the room. "That sounds...scary.

"It's not really a big deal, Dread says... Not if you don't make it one, anyway. And, it's pretty easy to pre-determine. I mean, if you're not too into gossip, you don't date a lot of people, and/or you haven't been sleeping around, then you're not gonna wind up in Whores. If you make anything less than a 93 on a school assignment, you can't be in Dollies. And, Stones sounds bad, but it ranges from druggies to artists and other misfits: it was just named for the druggies... And, Cards is just for the glaringly unique..."

The pink hedgehog looked thoughtful for a moment, wondering how she'd be grouped... They all sounded awful, really. "What's the... induction like?"

Walker finally gave up on pretending to read, closing his book. "I dunno. The queen or king and the suits' court just approaches you and... tells you, I guess. I've only heard secondhand. I don't know."

"The suits' court?"

"Yeah, you know. The Knave, The Ace, The Joker..." He trailed off as the bell rang. He put his book into his black messenger bag before he stood up. "Don't worry much about it. You'll be fine..."

Amy nodded. "Alright... Well, thanks, Walker. At least I'm not totally clueless, now..." She made a mental note to talk to Taylor about the subject later... Why hadn't she heard about it before she'd talked to Walker?

"No problem..." Walker waved then vanished down the hallway.

Amy shook her head as she joined Wave and Rouge again. He'd probably made the whole thing up... It was just too ridiculous-sounding to be true... _Of course it's not true... I'll ask Taylor._

_

* * *

~~~~Look forward to the next chapter for the sports intro, more gossip, and the true beginning to the romance...~~~  
_


	5. No One

(insert long reason for why I didn't update sooner)

Yeah, forget that. Short version: internet troubles, I moved, then there was no internet for a while.

But, more importantly, I'm finally updating.

My Story Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any of the canon Sonic characters used and/or mentioned in this story (including but not limited to Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Silver, Blaze, Wave, Jet, Cream, Vector, Charmy, and Dr. Eggman). Nor do I own the inspiration from some of the other characters taken from other games/movies (such as Ganondorf Dragmire who belongs to the Zelda franchise, and Queen Grimhilde who belongs to Disney). Nor, again, do I own any objects or names that are associated with the Sonic universe, any other game or movie or tv show's universe, or any business/corporation names. In addition, the celebrity personas illustrated in the story mean no harm and are not meant to be offensive in any way.

I do not own Google - again. I don't own the lyrics to "Dear Agony" by Breaking Benjamin. I don't own the lyrics to "Forever and Always" by Taylor Swift.

The drama, the romance, and the path to treachery. This is where it begins.

**5. No One**

"Oh. Wow," Taylor said as Amy finished explaining what Walker had told her. "So, word's out about the suits..."

"You mean it's real?," Amy asked. Then, feeling slightly guilty, she added, "Are we not supposed to know?"

Taylor smiled reassuringly. "No, it's fine. You said that another freshman told you, and, considering who it was, I don't think there should be a problem... I doubt he heard it from any of the pawns."

Amy, somewhat familiar with gaming terminology, assumed that by "pawns", Taylor was referring to the majority of the suit - those outside what Walker had labeled as the Court. "So... What are we... supposed to do?"

"You don't 'do' anything. Just be yourself. Don't worry about it." Taylor returned to tuning her guitar. "Besides, to be honest, the Kings and Queens have probably already made their decisions on which freshmen they want. It's been almost a week: that's more than enough time for the courts to pick out most candidates. After all, they have scouts everywhere."

_Oh, great. So, people have been stalking me for almost a week, now, and I haven't noticed. No wonder Eggman always manages to kidnap me... _"Oh, well, thanks, anyway..."

"Any time, Amy. But, don't tell your classmates. Just let them find out. It's easier that way."

"Right..."

Taylor strummed over the strings on her guitar, then, apparently satisfied, she looked up at Amy again. "So, are you going to watch the 3.6. demonstration, or are you going to the meeting for the play?"

"Probably neither... I'm going to rest for a few minutes then go try to find some friends..." _Hmm... I wonder where Sonic is... _

"Alright, well, I hope you don't mind if I practice... I'm hoping to write a new song."

Amy's eyes brightened. "That sounds exciting! Can I stay and listen?"

"Sure."

* * *

Knuckles was one of the first students on the bleachers. He'd left to get there early for no particular reason: he had nothing better to do. And, he hadn't put too much thought into what the consequences would be if he got to the stands too early. If he _had_ thought about that, then he might not have shown up for the game demonstration at all.

"Well, well, well, look who it is - Knuckles the Echidna, out in _public_?"

Knuckles groaned, recognizing Rouge's voice instantly. He quickly closed his eyes to shoot a prayer toward the Master Emerald. _Please make her go away. Please make her go away._

Naturally, the bat sat down next to him. "Out from under your rock? And, to watch a _game_, too?" Rouge feigned a look of shock. "I thought Knuckles the Echidna didn't _believe_ in fun!"

"Sports and fun are not the same thing." He crossed his arms.

"You're right. Sports are complicated. Another reason I'm surprised to see you here, Knuckie. How can you even comprehend what's going on down on the field?"

"Knock it off, Rouge! Leave me alone. I didn't come here to listen to you!"

The bat rolled her eyes but ended the jarring remarks for the moment. Instead, she looked down at the field, where the players were all standing, waiting for a move to be made. The game was probably about halfway over - still, not many people were in the stands. Maybe it was because the game was just a demonstration. Or, maybe it was because the real action of the game didn't usually happen until later. Rouge tilted her head, watching the field.

Six players, dressed in green, stood idle on the field, all surrounding a large white dome. The dome took up the very center of the field, and it was littered with openings large enough for people to move through.

Knuckles watched the field also, with a frustrated look on his face. The lack of action confused him. "What's going on?"

Rouge glanced at him, then she smirked. She had been right, of course: Knuckles couldn't follow what was happening in the game. Then again, she wasn't sure that he'd ever even seen a game before... She pointed to the dome. "The orange team's in there. All of the guys in green are waiting for the orange players to leave the safety of the dome."

"Why?"

"Because, if the green team manages to disable all the orange players and capture the ring, the green team wins."

"What ring?"

"The ring that one of the orange players is holding. If the orange player with the ring manages to break through the dome and get past the opposing team to make it to the edge of the field, then the orange team wins."

Knuckles processed that for several moments. "...But, then, why don't the outside guys just rush the dome?"

"The dome's off-limits. It's safety for the orange team. Without it, they would be outnumbered, and it would hardly be a game at all."

"How?"

Rouge sighed, gesturing more toward the field. "There are only three players on the inside team, and there are twice as many on the outside."

"...So, the whole thing's not a fair fight..."

Rouge smiled. "No, if you want to look at it that way, it's not. But, the only real point of the game is entertainment."

* * *

Wave glanced toward the digital clock by her bed. Again. About ten seconds had passed since the last time she'd checked. She huffed, leaning back on the bed's headboard.

There was absolutely nothing to do.

Wave's eyes scanned the room, but nothing seemed interesting. She'd already polished and waxed her board six times... No class had assigned any homework - other than reading, which she wasn't too keen on. She had no interest in stupid 3.6. or any of those other sports: the Extreme Gear races didn't start until spring...

_This is stupid._ She picked up her laptop from its place on the bedside table and stood up, heading out the door and down the hallway. She stopped when she reached the common room, but she frowned when she saw that there was only one other person in the room. "What are _you_ doing here?" She didn't mean for her voice to sound too condescending, - only as condescending as it usually was - but it sounded harsher in the emptiness of the room.

Espio, never opening his eyes from his meditative pose, simply responded, "Well, I do live upstairs. This is my common room."

"And? Why are you down here? You don't seem like the social type."

"Not social in a socially-accepted way, perhaps. But, I find that observable actions and behaviors are most effective in determining a person's character."

Wave set her computer on the coffee table, taking a seat on the couch - next to the chameleon but far enough away so as to be sure that she wouldn't catch any sort of strange reptile diseases that she was sure he had. "How insightful of you." She crossed her arms. "But, being social is about talking to people."

"I disagree."

She glared at his eyelids, since he seemed to be refusing to open his eyes. "Words mean everything."

"It does not surprise me that you would take that stance."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Silence was there, then. But, only for a moment. "You enjoy arguing. So, it is natural that you would take an opposing stance, no matter the subject."

"Excuse me?"

"Often, you talk only because you can. You want to make yourself heard, even if it results in your own becoming of an unlikable person."

Wave stood up. "What, so I'm a jerk? And, I'm only a jerk because I think it's fun?"

"I said nothing of the sort. I believe that your actions speak more for you."

"What actions?"

"How you treat others, for example. Or, how you cannot stand to be alone - like how you left your own room for the common room. Or, how you never consider ideas other than your own..." Espio paused for a long moment as Wave clenched her fists at him."...Or, how you steal things..."

Wave's eyes widened at the last words. She had never been caught on a heist. "...How do you know that?"

Espio paused. "...Suspects of unsolved crimes are kept in files... Which are viewable by anyone in law enforcement, including detectives..."

"Are you _stalking_ me?"

The chameleon finally opened his eyes, losing the calmness that typically defined him. He was attempting to diffuse the situation with a quick, "Of course not!," when the door at the front of the room opened, and Walker skipped in.

The orange echidna was on his phone, chatting away, but as soon as he saw Espio and Wave, he smiled, holding the phone away for a moment to greet Espio with, "OH, so, _that's _the girl you were Google-ing last night..."

Wave shot Espio a look that could have soured fresh milk. But, Espio seemed more concerned with getting Walker to stop talking. He was desperately trying to gesture for the echidna to shut up...

Walker, however, got a different message. "Oh! Sorry, did I-? I just interrupted you two, didn't I? Hey, uh, no worries... I'm on my way upstairs... and then you two can, uh... have at it..."

Espio's usual fuchsia color brightened to a highlighter-pink, and Wave was far too mortified to manage any sort of response.

And, as if it wasn't mortifying enough on it's own, Walker stopped halfway up the stairs to turn back and say, "Oh, and there's a party this weekend... that you're both invited to... you know... if you're not too busy doing... something else."

* * *

Knuckles blinked as his phone went off, just a few seconds before the final buzzer that ended the game. He pulled it out to check the message. Rouge leaned over his shoulder. "I didn't know you had a phone!"

"Well, the point of it is to talk to people you _want _to talk to."

Rouge put a hand over her heart, acting offended. "And, you don't want to talk to _me_?"

Knuckles was silent for a moment as he tried to think of a clever comeback, but, before he could, Rouge swiped the phone from his hands. "HEY!"

"Whaddaya know... This thing actually gets a pretty good signal..." She was flipping through the contacts, pressing buttons...

"GIVE THAT BACK!"

"Oh, Knuckie, you text? How do you push the little buttons with those mittens on..."

"THEY'RE NOT MITTENS; THEY'RE GLOVES! GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE!"

"Calm down, sweetheart," she said, handing the phone back to him. He quickly pocketed the device, glaring daggers at the bat. Rouge smirked. "Well, guess I'll see you around, Knuckie. Try not to miss me too much!" She winked and blew him a kiss then unfurled her wings, flying off toward the dorms.

Knuckles sighed and stood up, making his way out of the bleachers, when an unfamiliar sophomore stopped him to say, "Dude, your girlfriend's hot!"

Instantly, Knuckles punched the poor guy into the sixth row of the bleachers. He was just about to shout something after him, too, when the biology teacher, Mrs. Burroughs, yelled, "Mr. Echidna! To the principal's office this instant!" Knuckles cursed under his breath. _Damn you, Rouge. _He could've sworn that he could hear her laughing from somewhere in the distance.

* * *

"So, what are you thinking about trying out for, Blaze?"

The purple cat shook her head. "I'm not sure. Maybe Hoops. Or just Track. But, that doesn't start until spring..."

Sonic nodded. "I know. I don't get that - does the track freeze over in winter or something? Seriously..."

Blaze laughed, stretching her arms out in front of her. "I don't know. They act like it does, though, don't they? **No **Extreme Gear and** no **running."

"Just kill me now," Sonic said, doing his best Shadow impersonation and making a slashing movement with his hand over his wrist.

"Oh, be serious, Sonic. Why are we out here, anyway?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Better than being inside. And, I just don't feel like going into the crowded stands today. Too many people."

Blaze nodded, finishing her stretching then looking around the open field. "Alright. So, where's the finish line?"

* * *

The principal's office was located at the very back of the campus, over a strange, glasslike bridge that crossed a moat of red water - or, at least, Knuckles told himself that it was water. The office itself was like the tallest tower of a castle, made of black stone. Needless to say, it contrasted greatly with the rest of the campus.

Knuckles walked into the office through the large, wooden doors, only to be met by the sight of a small desk where a woman was sitting. To the left of the desk was the bottom of a staircase, and to the right was a door with a sign that read "Grimhilde". The woman at the desk, the office secretary, looked up at Knuckles.

"May I help you?," The secretary asked, looking over the rims of her glasses to focus her stare on him.

"Yeah, I just beat some guy up... Um, Mrs. Burroughs sent me here..."

The secretary smiled. "Of course. To Lord Dragmire, then." She gestured toward the staircase. "Just follow the red rug up the stairs."

Knuckles nodded and walked over, slowly starting up the long, spiral staircase.

* * *

"_...Everything is wrong: it rains when you're here, and it rains when you're gone... 'Cuz I was there when you said forever and always... You didn't mean it, baby... You said forever and always..._" Taylor strummed a few more notes on the guitar then silenced it.

Amy clapped enthusiastically. "That was great!"

Taylor shook her head, smiling. "I just can't believe you stayed the whole time. I've been practicing for over an hour. It'll be dark out soon."

"Well, I am hungry," Amy said, realizing how late it was for the first time.

"Alright, we should head to the cafeteria, then..."

* * *

"You should know, Knuckles the Echidna, that we do not tolerate mindless violence at M.U.C.A." The boar's amber eyes watched Knuckles as if waiting for a response. When the echidna didn't respond, Lord Dragmire tapped his hand on the desk. "You realize that I could demand a conference with your parents..."

Knuckles stiffened instantly at the mention of parents.

"...As it is, however, I have been informed of your situation... It's rare that we accept orphans into M.U.C.A. It's rare that they have what it takes to get in due to lack of guidance... However, it is not unheard of. We have accepted several this year, in fact, yourself included, Knuckles." The boar took a breath then went on with the original subject, "Now, as it is... It would be a shame to expel you under the circumstances..."

"...I'm... not in trouble?"

"I never said that. You see... Knuckles... I believe that you have extraordinary potential... Extraordinary power... - I am sure you believe so, as well."

Knuckles barely inclined his head.

"Far more powerful than anyone I have ever before seen..."

Knuckles glanced thoughtfully at the back of his own hand.

"Your only difficulty is controlling that power. So, it is my judgement that you be assigned a mentor."

"Mentor?"

"Yes... Someone who can help you learn to control your power... Who can bring out your potential..." Lord Dragmire picked up a brass box from his desk, and he opened it, taking out what appeared to be a deck of cards. "I assume you've... met Mr. Lox..."

Knuckles eyed the cards, feeling a strange mix of apprehension and curiosity... "The porcupine...? Sort of..."

"Good. You should get to know him... He will be a great ally to you in your time here at the academy..." The boar removed a card from the center of the deck, then, upon noticing Knuckles' perplexed face, he added, "He can make you stronger."

Knuckles stared at his hands thoughtfully, trying to process the information. Stronger? So that he could control his temper in school? So that he could, when he graduated, protect the emerald better? Another thought crossed his mind. So that he could finally beat... He looked up. "Stronger than Sonic?"

The tiniest trace of a smile flitted across the older boar's face, unnoticed by the echidna. "Give this card to Mr. Lox." The boar handed the card, face-down to Knuckles. "And, stay out of trouble... You're dismissed for now."

Knuckles took the card and stood up, hurrying out the door. He quickly made his way down the staircase and out the door before the red-headed secretary could shout, "Don't tread on the grass! Plants have feelings, too, you know!"

Knuckles crossed over the bridge and walked about half of a kilometer before he stopped, realizing that he had no idea where he was going. And, it was already getting dark... He sighed, glancing down at the card in his hand. It didn't look really unusual... And, there didn't seem to be any note on it... It was just an ordinary playing card. Knuckles' eyes drifted over the picture on the card's face, then to the upright J printed in black ink... The Jack of Clubs. _What does that mean..?_ Before he could think too much on it, though, he was distracted by the vibrating of his phone. He took it out of his pocket and read the screen. Then he scowled.

"NEW TEXT MESSAGE: Rouge"

_WHY?_

_

* * *

_

Knock. Knock.

Shadow pulled a pillow over his head, trying to ignore the knocking on the door. It wasn't as though it was important. He knew who it was.

On the opposite side of the room, Dread was sitting up on his own bed, looking as indifferent as ever. His face didn't ever change much. His emotions only seemed to range from amused to indifferent. And, some things in between. But, nothing beyond either of those. Still, despite the porcupine's blank facial expression, Shadow had a feeling that Dread was annoyed.

Or, maybe he was just placing his own emotions on his roommate.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

_"Just ignore it. He'll go away."_ _Sure. Easy to say half an hour ago. _Finally losing his patience, Shadow threw the pillow off the bed and onto the floor, standing up. _I swear, I'm going to murder you, Faker... _

Dread raised his head slightly, watching Shadow storm toward the door. Technically, he was the dorm leader, and he should have tried to stop any confrontation among the dormmates... Ha. Right. Like he was going to worry about that at twelve o' clock at night.

"Go burn in Hell, Faker," Shadow said harshly as he opened the door. "Or, at least go live across the hall _somewhere_ where people don't care about sleep."

Sonic frowned, lowering his fist which had been raised to knock once more. "...So, I'm guessing you don't want to race, then?"

Shadow's eye twitched. "_Really? _You woke me up for that?" Sonic was silent, so Shadow took a few breaths, calming his own voice. "Well, Faker, I suggest that you pray you can outrun the Ultimate Lifeform."

Normally, Sonic would have either laughed the threat off or actually challenged Shadow to a fight. But, the sleepy, red-eyed, messy-haired black hedgehog did not look remotely like the laughable emo kid who was the target of most of Sonic's jokes. So, Sonic, for once, took the threat seriously.

"Take the back route, toward the track and sports fields!," Dread yelled after the two hedgehogs as they ran out of the dorm, well past curfew. "No one ever patrols there!"

Faintly, he heard a shouted, "Right!," and then there was silence.

* * *

Rouge walked into the room and fell back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. The sound of her roommates' typing made her look away, though. She raised an eyebrow at Wave, who was typing ferociously. "What are you doing?"

Wave's eyes were glued to the computer screen. "Google-ing 'how to deal with stalker'."

"You have a stalker?"

After several moments of silence, Wave groaned. "None of these will work! I mean, how do you get a restraining order against a chameleon? He'll just turn invisible, and you'll never know if he's there or not!"

"Chameleon?" Rouge turned over, resting her head on her crossed arms. She smirked evilly. "Start talking, Wave."

* * *

Morning was dull, and the afternoon was dreary.

The chameleon walked along the sidewalk, thinking aloud to the grey hedgehog beside him, "There is something dangerous in the air around this place. I can feel it."

Silver nodded. "Well, it is high school... It's not renowned for being the most pleasant place in the world..."

Espio shook his head. "No. There is evil on the wind..."

Silver knew better than to argue with his chameleon pal, but he couldn't help but say, "Well, some high schoolers are mean... They can be bad... But, I don't think any of us are evil..."

The chameleon's voice came across as even more mysterious than usual. "What is the divider of bad and evil? And, what is the divider between good and bad?"

"Espio, are you oka-?"

"You have a class." Espio gestured lightly toward one of the classroom buildings. His voice was firm, leaving no room for questions. "...And, I need to meditate."

At the mention of class, Silver panicked, automatically thinking that if he didn't hurry, he was going to be late. So, trying to forget what the chameleon had said, he waved goodbye and rushed off.

"Amy!," Silver half-shouted when he saw the familiar pink hedgehog walking down the hallway a bit ahead of him.

Amy turned and smiled. She was walking with Walker, the orange echidna who seemed to have quickly become her friend - Silver wasn't surprised, though. Amy always made friends so easily... "Hi, Silver," Amy said. "Where are you heading?"

Silver slowed his pace as he caught up to the two of them. "Um, to class... I've got Child Care next..."

"Really? I completely forgot!," Amy said, apparently excited. "That's great! That means that maybe we'll all get to work together! Ooh, this is gonna be so fun! We're starting work with toys today, and then next week we start working with relationships and pretending to be parents, and then we get to work with kids, and - isn't this great?" Before he could move, Silver was caught in an Amy-hug - the death grip of DOOM.

"...a...Amy..." He gasped, "I... can't... breathe..."

The pink hedgehog released Silver from the hug after a few seconds, but his face was already a dizzy shade of purple-red. Walker giggled - which reminded Amy of his presence. "Oh, Walker! I forgot - you and Silver haven't actually met, have you?"

Walker blinked, caught off-guard. "Well, um, I mean, I think you actually sent him over to talk to me a day or two ago - to try to get me to sit with you - remember? And, he was in class with us back on the first day... Though I guess we didn't really talk..."

"Then that doesn't count. Walker, this is Silver; Silver this is Walker - my new-ish almost-a-friend!" She glanced at Walker and added, "Silver's an old friend - well, you know, not old-old, but, like, old-ish, ya know..." Silver just nodded slightly, lost somewhere among the fast girlspeak.

Walker, however, seemed to understand every word, and he nodded, responding, "Yeah, I get it." He then flashed a smile at Silver. "It's nice to meet you." He took a moment to think before he asked, "Wait, is he the guy you like, or..."

Amy quickly shook her head. "No, I don't know where Sonic is..."

Silver tilted his head. "You were looking for Sonic?" Walker and Amy both turned toward Silver. "Espio and I saw him earlier... He was hanging out with some upperclassmen... And, that purple cat-girl... Blaze. She was the only one I recognized: the rest of them looked older... I think they were all talking about sports... They looked kinda sporty."

Amy looked thoughtful, processing the information. Walker didn't think on it very long before he asked, "You don't play sports?"

Silver shook his head. "Well, I... Not for the school. Not this year, anyway. I play games and stuff sometimes with friends... Don't you play sports?"

"No. I might if I cared to. But, I hate sports with every fiber of my being..."

"Oh."

"I'm not really into much physical exertion at all... I like dancing - but I like anything to do with music, so..."

Silver nodded, remembering the lyrics that Walker had been singing alone at his lunch table... And, he also remembered the reaction he'd gotten when he had interrupted Walker's song... The orange echidna's stuttering, the difficulty breathing... "...Do you have asthma?," Silver asked suddenly, feeling somewhat awkward.

"No," Walker answered quickly. Instantly. "Why?"

"Oh..." The grey hedgehog shook his head. "...well... I was just wondering." Silver tried to clear his mind, changing the subject, "So... you're friends with that Dread guy?" Walker took the subject change enthusiastically, and he was rattling on - something about when or how he and Dread had met - in a way that sounded like he was about to divulge his whole life's story... But, strangely for the grey hedgehog, Silver couldn't seem to listen. He couldn't help but feel that something... something was off about Amy's new friend.

_Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless they're shared with everyone._

_

* * *

_

"Dude, can you believe the Spanish teacher? I mean, it's the first day of class and she expects me to count to FIVE in Spanish? That's crazy!" Sonic fell back onto the couch in the common room. Blaze sat down in a chair against the wall, and Jet decided to lounge on the floor. "And, this was AFTER she yelled at me for talking to Silver across the room - I mean, we were talking about important stuff..."

Jet nodded in agreement. "I know! And, then she went and called me a dieta. What? So, she thinks she can just say stuff about me in Spanish, and I won't know what she's saying! Well, news for you, Spanish lady: I looked it up in the book, and I am not a diet!"

"Oh, maybe she said you needed to go on a diet. Wait - I bet she called you fat!"

"WHAT?"

Blaze rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure she didn't say 'dieta'. It was more like 'idiota'."

Jet blinked. "Idiota?" He groaned. " ...Great, more fancy Spanish... Now, I gotta go look that one up!"

"What are you even doing here, Jet? Don't you have class?"

"Psh. CHILD CARE? Yeah, right. Not today. I'm ready for the weekend..."

Sonic sighed, stretching his arms out above his head. "We don't have anything due tomorrow, do we?"

Blaze shook her head. "Tomorrow is Saturday."

"Alright, cool..." Sonic sat up, his mind shifting to other things. "So, what time does that party start?"

Jet looked mildly surprised. "You got invited to that, too?"

"Why wouldn't I? I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Jet shrugged, though he was still somewhat surprised that Sonic had been invited... After all, Dread had been the one to invite Jet, and the porcupine hadn't seemed to like Sonic much at all... Someone else must have invited Sonic, then. "I dunno."

Sonic looked at Blaze. "Hey, do you mind if we leave, now, so we can drop by and see Tails?"

Blaze slowly stood up. She didn't really feel like driving, but since Sonic was car-less - and since she didn't really want him to get hit by a car while trying to run on the highway - she had taken the role of chaffeur. "Alright. Perhaps we will see Cream, too..."

"Alright! Race you to the car!"

Jet instantly was on his feet. "I'll be there before you will be!"

"Jet, you're not going."

"...Oh. Right." Disappointed, the hawk took a seat on the couch. As Sonic and Blaze went out the door, Jet opted for the tv remote. "Well, something's gotta be on..." Sure, some shows were on. But, Jet wasn't really interested in watching _Ray's Biology_ or _Metropolitan Idol_... And, there was no way he was watching "the news"! Psh.

Giving up on the television, Jet leaned back onto the arm of the couch and closed his eyes, deciding to take a nap.

* * *

"Bye, Silver," Amy said, waving as she and Walker walked down the hallway, toward their next class. Child care hadn't been quite as interesting as she'd hoped that day; they still had to learn some things before they would actually be able to work with fun things, like kids and role-playing as parents. Silver waved tiredly after her before disappearing into the opposite direction. Amy turned back to Walker. "Well, I'm glad that I've got someone I know in almost all my classes, at least..."

The orange echidna nodded slightly. "Yeah... You sure have a lot of friends..."

Amy shook her head. "I meant that I was glad that at least _you're_ in most of my classes. So, that I don't have to adjust to new people in all my different classes." She paused. "And, I don't think I have any more friends than any normal person..."

Walker nodded again. "Right..."

Amy furrowed her brow. She had always been pretty good at reading emotions, so she caught on easily to the slight edge in his voice... "Walker, are you okay?"

"Hm?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, yawning, "I'm fine... Just a little tired..."

"Okay... So," she tried to return to the subject of class, "How'd you get stuck in Fashion & Design?" She looked down at her schedule as she spoke, making sure to check the numbers on the doors in the hallway: she didn't want to talk her way past the classroom...

Walker answered her question with a flat tone, "I signed up for it."

"...Oh," Amy said, feeling a bit awkward. She had just assumed that the school had placed him in the class. Realizing that her subject change had not been a great one, she tried to switch subjects again, "So, do you have a car?"

Walker brightened a bit, then. "Yeah, I do. It's not at this school, though. It's back home."

"Oh, cool," the pink hedgehog responded, smiling. "Where do you live?"

"It's not really around here," he answered after a moment of deliberation.

"O...kay... So, how do you get places if your car is far away?"

"Well, if I need to get somewhere Dread usually drives me. If he doesn't then Kim does."

Amy thought of something else to ask, then, that she had been curious about. "How long has Dread been going to school?"

"Um... This will be his...fifth year."

Amy frowned. That was a long time to be held back... "Why hasn't the school kicked him out? I mean, it's supposed to be a place for the 'gifted', right?"

"Well, the school would have a riot on its hands if it tried that..." Walker stared ahead. "Dread's really popular..."

"Ha, _that_ makes sense, since the two of you are constantly sitting alone," Amy mused aloud sarcastically. Only after she'd already said it did Amy realize how cutting her remark had been. "Wait, Walker, I didn't..."

The echidna's face was dark, and he ignored her, taking a sudden turn into a doorway. Amy followed him into the classroom - she hadn't realized they had been so close to the class. If only she'd kept her mouth shut for a few seconds longer, she wouldn't have offended him...

About eight tables were scattered around the classroom. Some of the tables had three chairs, some had two. A couple of girls at one of the tables waved cheerfully at Amy from their table - Amy didn't know them, but they seemed nice. So, she made her way over to their table, taking the third seat that was there.

Knuckles looked up from his desk when he caught a glimpse of Amy-pink fur. Amy didn't see him, so she sat down with a couple of girls he half-recognized from his culture class. Knuckles didn't care much: he was just glad to see that she came in along with Walker - Knuckles wasn't the only guy in fashion, after all. The red echidna let out a breath in relief when Walker silently took the chair across the table from him, "Thank the Master Emerald."

Walker looked a bit taken aback. "..What?"

"I thought I was the only guy in here."

"Oh..." The orange echidna smiled artificially. "No, we're both stuck in here..." He looked up, noticing for the first time who he was actually talking to. "...Did you just say...?" He trailed off. "...You're the Guardian..."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "Yes... And, who are you?"

Walker quickly averted his eyes, focusing on the tabletop. "No one."

* * *

Shadow stared at the computer screen in front of his face, waiting for something miraculous to happen.

Nothing did.

In all honesty, he couldn't be surprised. He was, after all, simply lying there and watching a screen. He sat up, putting the laptop on his bedside table when the door opened and Dread walked in.

The porcupine walked with an alien sort of grace - it was as if he never had to look where he was going. At that moment, for instance, he was walking and texting simultaneously, accomplishing both just as quickly and skillfully as any normal person could do while only focused on one or the other.

Shadow watched the porcupine pace across the room and lean against the wall, and the hedgehog gave a quiet, "Hmph," that served as both a greeting and a question inquiring whom he was texting.

Dread nodded in Shadow's direction to return the greeting, then he answered the unspoken question, "Walker."

The hedgehog sat up, rubbing his eyes boredly.

Dread finished his text message and put the phone away before looking over at his roommate, "Hey, you okay, Shadow?"

"Always."

Dread's attention faltered as his phone rang again, but he replied, humorless, "You're not great at lying, and you should know that I don't believe you. But, I'm going to pretend that I do, for civility's sake."

"That's all I ask."

Dread sent his text and put his phone away again. He took a deep breath and walked across the room, offering a hand to help Shadow stand up.

Shadow just looked at the porcupine's hand - it was covered in a glove of steel. "Hmph. Why do you wear those things?"

"I'm a porcupine - my claws are pretty bad. So, I wear these." Dread didn't move his hand. "Come on."

"Why?"

"I'm going to meet some people, and you're going to come with me. Because obviously you have nothing better to do."

Shadow scowled. "No." He glanced toward the window, deciding to fabricate an easy excuse. "I don't go out in the sun." He waited then for some Sonic-esque joke about emo kids or vampires, or - more likely - some combination of both.

Instead, a smirk crossed Dread's face. "Good. Because where we're going, the sun doesn't come out."

* * *

"Hey, Tails!"

The twin-tailed fox looked up from his work on his latest machine, the Hurricane. "Sonic!"

The Blue Blur grinned. "How's it going, buddy?"

Tails put down the wrench that he was holding and pushed the goggles he was wearing up to rest on his forehead. "How'd you get here?"

"Well, I got Blaze to drive me, but, once we got off the highway, the car was moving too slow, so I thought I'd stretch my legs and run ahead."

"Blaze is here? If you'd have called ahead, I could have invited Cream over..."

"Aw, don't worry, buddy - I'll be sure to call next time... So, heard anything outta Eggman yet?"

"No, Sonic. It hasn't even been a week since you've been gone... There's still no sign of him. He's definitely taking a break."

"No attempted robberies on the Master Emerald?"

The fox crossed his arms. "Did Knuckles tell you to ask that? No, the Master Emerald is fine. Nothing could get past the security system I hooked up there; it's fool-proof!"

Sonic nodded. "No one works a computer like you, Tails."

Both guys looked up as they heard a knock on the door upstairs. "I guess that's Blaze?," Tails half-asked, removing his goggles and starting toward the stairs.

"Probably," Sonic said, racing up the stairs ahead of his best friend.

* * *

Walker had been unusually silent for the last ten minutes of fashion class. Knuckles assumed that the orange echidna, like himself, was simply bored out of his mind from the class. So, he hadn't made any comment when Walker's head had dropped to the desk. The teacher didn't appear to notice.

As soon as the bell rang, Amy stood up and rushed over to Walker, apology at the ready. Knuckles stood up from his desk, putting his books away. As Amy approached, though, the Guardian asked, "Hey, are you going to that party thing tonight?"

Amy nodded, already assuming she knew what his next question would be, so she said, "Yes, Knuckles, I'll drive you there - or, at least, I'll ask _someone_ to..."

He opened his mouth to start, "Thank-...," but he trailed off as he caught on to what she was saying. He glared at the pink hedgehog.

Amy smiled. "Fine. No Rouge, then - though I'm sure she'd _love_ to take you..." Knuckles continued to glare, so Amy gave in. "Okay, I'll see if Jet or somebody will take you..." Satisfied with that, Knuckles picked up his books and left. Amy turned back toward Walker, then. "Walker, about what I said earlier... I didn't..." She tilted her head, noticing his lack of movement. "...Are you asleep?"

No response.

"Walker?"

Nothing.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Walker?"

Almost instantly, the orange echidna's head shot up, eyes wide open. His face was tired, but his stature was shaky, scared.

"Walker - are...are you okay?"

Upon hearing Amy's voice, his shaking calmed a bit, and he nodded, returning to reality. "...How long was I out...?"

"Not long... I just noticed in the last few minutes of class."

Walker nodded again, and, after thinking for a moment, he slowly stood up. "Right... Thanks..." He seemed to have forgotten that he was mad at the pink hedgehog. "...So... There's that party tonight, right?"

Amy inclined her head slightly, confused by the orange echidna's strange behavior. "Yeah..."

"Well, you've probably got some friends to get to... See you at the party, Amy," he said, quickly picking up his black bag.

"Alright... See you then, Walker." He was out the door scarcely a second before she could finish her sentence. Amy sighed. Poor Walker: it was a good thing that he was nice because he was just a bit on the strange side... Amy picked up her own bags and walked out the door, heading toward Wave's and Rouge's dorm to get ready for the party...

* * *

_Take the time to take my breath,_

_I will end where I began..._

_And, I will find the enemy within..._

_'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin..._

Shadow watched through the window as the bright blue sky suddenly switched to black. The place was very familiar to him, but it had been a while since he'd visited. Ahead, neon signs and lights flashed.

Dread smiled as the car took a turn, heading down a side road. "Welcome to Night Babylon..."


End file.
